Jesus means these words. This is not poetry. When the rash person offered to follow him, Christ clearly stated the terms: no home, no family, no old connections, no old work, only new relationships, new places to go and to be, new work. Do not complain if you have asked to follow Him and then you are stripped of all. If you find yourself isolated, marginalized, lonely, being called to a work unknown to you, rejoice. You are following Christ.
If you still do not understand, read Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson's None Other Gods.
Gospel Reading
Luke 9:57-62
Luke 9:57-62
As they were going along the road, a man said to Him, "I will follow you wherever you go." And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head." To another he said, "Follow me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father." But he said to him, "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home." Jesus said to him, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."