In the Gospel passage from St Luke, Jesus himself frankly states the three conditions necessary for being his disciples: to love him more than anyone else and more than life itself; to carry one's cross and to walk after him; to renounce all one's possessions. Jesus sees a great crowd following him with his disciples and wants to make it quite clear to all that following him is demanding and cannot depend on enthusiasm or opportunism. It must be a carefully considered decision taken after asking oneself, in all conscience: who is Jesus for me? Is he truly "Lord", does he take first place, like the sun around which all the planets rotate? And the First Reading from the Book of Wisdom indirectly suggests to us the reason for this absolute primacy of Jesus Christ: in him we find the answers to the questions of human beings in every epoch who seek the truth about God and about themselves. God is out of our reach and his plans are unknown to us. Yet he has chosen to reveal himself, in creation and especially in the history of salvation, while in Christ he fully manifested himself and his will. Although it remains true that "No one has ever seen God" (Jn 1: 18), we now know his "name" and his "face" and even his will, because Jesus, who is the Wisdom of God made man, has revealed them to us. "Thus", writes the sacred author of the First Reading, "men were taught what pleases you, and were saved by wisdom" (Wis 9: 18).
[Pope Benedict, homily in Carpineto Romano 5 September 2010]