From the Gospel acclamation: “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 10:34-11:1)
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Picking up from where Saturday’s Gospel left off, today’s reading shows Jesus giving further instructions to the Apostles. The key to understanding the seemingly harsh words from today perhaps lie in what he says beforehand and in where he indicates true life lies: “Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.” To acknowledge Jesus Christ as the way and the truth and the life cannot be anything but divisive because he himself is truth, whose name is I Am and not “it is.” Commitment to the person of Christ calls for radical detachment from what we love best in this life, including family, for the sake of greater gain. But in following him, what we gain back even stronger through him is grounded in his truth. “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
God, help me call to mind throughout the day what I know is right. As I have hesitation to go a certain way, make clear to me to know whether it is your will and give me the fortitude to carry it out. Jesus said, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” Setting love for you above all else, Christ in his graciousness models the way he relates to you as his Father. Let that be paramount as I relate to others today. How is it and in what ways will you show me the opportunity through others to receive you? Holy Spirit, help me see in that moment how to care for others’ needs. Saint Bonaventure, pray for us!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.