![\"\"](\"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1920px-Interior_Sagrada_Familia.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Once upon a time there were two towers.
\nBoth towers began to be constructed about the same time,
\nin the late 1800s.
\nBoth were constructed in Europe and designed by European architects,
\nand both of them were ambitious projects,
\nwith plans for multiple levels, huge arches,
\nand decorative statues.
\nEach structure was designed to reach high into the sky,
\nand to be built of sturdy stone.
\nAnd both of these towers are unfinished to this day.
\nBoth architects died during their construction,
\nand neither building was ever completed.<\/p>\n
Today Jesus talks to the crowds about building a tower.
\nHe compares building a tower
\nto being his disciple.
\nWhen you construct a tower, he tells the crowd,
\nyou must count the cost beforehand.
\nIn the same way, he says,
\nto be his disciple,
\nyou must count the cost,
\nyou must understand fully what it takes to follow him.
\nOtherwise you may find yourself unable to finish the work.<\/p>\n
There is a cost to building a tower.
\nThere is a cost to being a disciple of Jesus.
\nWhat is the cost of discipleship?
\nJesus is very clear about this:
\n\u201cWhoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
\ncannot be my disciple.\u201d
\nThe cost of discipleship is the cross.<\/p>\n
The spiritual writer Dietrich Bonhoeffer explores this idea \u201cCheap grace is grace without discipleship, \u201cSuch grace is costly because it calls us to follow, \u201c\u2026what has cost God so much cannot be cheap for us.\u201d<\/p>\n Jesus did not give up his life for us He gave up his life so we could follow him 24\/7: Today we hear Jesus ask us if we have we factored that Jesus is inviting us to do the same thing Returning to the two unfinished towers we started with, But there are also some significant differences between them. Jesus talks about the man who doesn\u2019t finish his tower La Sagrada Familia, Barcelona<\/p><\/div>\n Now the second tower in our story Its chief architect was Antoni Gaudi, But what\u2019s different about La Sagrada Familia<\/em>, It will have three grand facades, When Gaudi died in 1926,
\nin his book The Cost of Discipleship<\/em>.
\nBonhoeffer distinguishes between what he calls
\ncheap grace and costly grace:<\/p>\n
\ngrace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.
\nCostly grace is the treasure hidden in the field;
\nfor the sake of it, a man will gladly go and sell all that he has.”<\/p>\n
\nand it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ.
\nIt is costly because it costs a [person] his life,
\nand it is grace because it gives a [person] the only true life\u2026
\nAbove all it is costly because it cost God the life of his Son\u2026
\nand what has cost God so much cannot be cheap for us.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nso that we could \u201cleave the world for an hour or so
\nevery Sunday morning and go to church\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\ncarrying our own cross each day,
\nletting go of all that we possess, and all that possesses us.<\/p>\n
\ninto our calculations for building a spiritual life.
\nWe often calculate costs in life.
\nHow much do I need to save for a down payment for a mortgage?
\nHow long will it take me to save it?
\nWe calculate how much a vacation will cost us,
\nor what kind of car we can afford,
\nhow much we\u2019ll spend on gas or maintenance.
\nWe calculate and estimate and predict.<\/p>\n
\nwith the spiritual life.
\nJesus challenges us to calculate the cost of discipleship.
\nBecause if we don\u2019t,
\nwe risk leaving the work of our spiritual lives unfinished,
\nlike a building that is abandoned before it is done,
\nlike a tower that is never completed.<\/p>\n
\nwe saw that they had a lot in common.
\nBoth were made of stone, both were started over 100 years ago,
\nboth remain unfinished.<\/p>\n
\nThe first one was designed in Scotland
\nby a man named John Stuart McCaig.
\nIt was McCaig who commissioned the tower to be built,
\nand it was McCaig who designed it.
\nHis purpose was to create a lasting monument to his family,
\nin the style of the Colosseum in Rome.
\nHe designed it to be an elaborate structure,
\nwith arches and arches, and a large central tower,
\nand a museum, and an art gallery.
\nInside the central tower would be a large statue of himself,
\nand statues of his siblings and their parents.
\nBut McCaig died before it was completed.
\nHe did leave money in his will for the maintenance of the tower,
\nbut his heirs contested the will and won their case,
\nand so the tower was never finished.
\nMcCaig may have calculated
\nwhat he thought it would take to finish the tower,
\nbut he miscalculated his family.
\nHis tower was all about glorifying himself, glorifying his family,
\nand it sits in Scotland to this day, unfinished.
\nIn fact, it\u2019s even known today as \u201cMcCaig\u2019s Folly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\nwho is made fun of by the onlookers.
\nMcCaig\u2019s Folly.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/nicksenger.com\/onecatholiclife\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/1024px-050529_Barcelona_026-500x667.jpeg\")
\nis actually more than a tower, to be honest, quite a bit more.
\nIt was designed in Barcelona, Spain.
\nAnd it, too, like McCaig\u2019s Folly,
\nwas intended to honor a family,
\nbut not the family of the designer.
\nThis building is a massive church intended to honor the Holy Family,
\nLa Sagrada Familia<\/em>, in Spanish,
\nthe Sacred Family, the Holy Family,
\nJesus, Mary, and Joseph.<\/p>\n
\nand construction began on it in 1882.
\nAnd like McCaig\u2019s Folly, it remains unfinished to this day.<\/p>\n
\nwhen compared to McCaig\u2019s Folly,
\nis that construction has never stopped on La Sagrada Familia<\/em>.
\nFrom 1882 to 2022, for 140 years,
\nit has been worked on and worked on.
\nAnd it is magnificent.
\nI\u2019ve only seen it in pictures,
\nbut it\u2019s on my bucket list.
\nOur daughter Teresa saw it when she spent a semester abroad
\na few years go,
\nand she raved about how awe-inspiring it is.
\nEighteen towering spires of differing heights,
\nrepresenting the twelve apostles, the Blessed Virgin Mary,
\nthe four evangelists,
\nand the tallest spire of all, representing Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
\nrepresenting the Nativity, the Passion, and the Glory;
\nmassive columns depicting the the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit,
\nthe seven deadly sins,
\nand the seven heavenly virtues;
\nfive doors, with the central door having a triple entrance,
\nto represent the seven sacraments.
\nAnd that\u2019s not even mentioning the interior of the church,
\nilluminated in all the colors of the rainbow,
\ndesigned to look organic,
\nlike a living thing.<\/p>\n
\nless than a quarter of the project was complete.
\nBut work continued under the direction of Gaudi\u2019s main follower,
\nwho handed it on to a group of architects
\nwho have continued the work,
\nso the church is continually being worked on.
\nPope Benedict consecrated the church in 2010
\nand proclaimed it a minor basilica.
\nIt was projected to be finished in 2026,
\nbut this has been delayed a bit due to the pandemic.<\/p>\n