Thirteenth Sunday of
Ordinary Time (A) [Mt 10:37-42]
02.07.2023
Preferring
Christ to One’s Own Family and Living for His Sake
1. Theme in brief
Loyalty to Christ
2. Focus Statement
Loyalty to Christ must take precedence over our
family affections, if they prevent us from following Christ.
3. Explanation of the text
Today’s
gospel text is about the consequences of living out our faith in Christ in a radical manner. The
background of the given text about preferring Christ to one’s own family or blood-relatives is found in Jesus’ affirming the Jewish
commandment to love God first, with our whole soul, our whole heart and our
whole mind (Mt. 22:37), that is, above all and above everything else. This first commandment calls us
to serve God with a singular devotion to the exclusion of all other gods. In today’s text Jesus applies the same
principle to himself. Earlier he had already made it clear that following him
must take precedence even over a son’s duty to bury his father (Mt 8:22). Now
he requires his disciples to love him more than anyone else, even more than their
fathers, mothers, sons and daughters in order to become worthy of him (20:37).
Such a zealous love for Jesus and his values may sometimes antagonize one’s
own family members. If it happens, it is to be taken as a cross of opposition, criticism, rejection,
ridicule and intimidation that the disciples must
carry in order to become worthy of their Master (10:38).
It is clear that in this text that Jesus wants his disciples to
put loyalty to him and his mission above loyalty to their own family, though it
may cause painful rift or rejection within one’s own family. He promises that those
who “lose” their life by undergoing this type of suffering
will find it (10:39) in the form of rewards he promises in the following verses. Losing
one’s life also means sacrificing one’s life or taking risks for the
sake of Christ or his values. Those who find their life or keep it safe from
any involvement or sacrificial service to the needy will ultimately lose
everything they gathered for safekeeping.
Jesus says that whoever welcomes his disciples welcomes him….
(10:40). Even in modern times, an assault on an ambassador of a nation is
considered as an assault on the nation, and a gift to a child is considered as
a gift to parents. Similarly, Jesus says that “welcoming” his disciples is equal to welcoming him and
welcoming him is equal to welcoming the Father who sent him (10:40). In this
context, “welcoming” could mean, either taking care of their material needs, or
listening to them, or respecting them and their message as they represent God. Here
Jesus may be indirectly telling all believers to see his presence in his
disciples by welcoming them in their midst and treating them with courtesy,
respect and even material support.
Further, Jesus speaks about the rewards awaiting those who welcome three categories of
people: (1) prophets who are considered as spokespersons of God; (2)
righteous persons who obey God and do what is right in his sight
or all the faithful servants of God mentioned in the Bible; (3) the little ones who symbolize all the defenceless children, the
poor, the marginalized, the powerless and the vulnerable. Prophet’s reward is already
mentioned in Mt 5:12: "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven," and the righteous ones are promised that they "will shine
like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (Mt 13:43).
Reward promised in today’s text to whoever gives a cup
of cold water to the "little ones," is closely related to the Last Judgement (Mt 25:31-46)),
where those who gave a drink to one of the thirsty among the least ones are invited by the King to “inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (25:34). In this passage
even a smallest deed of compassion, such as giving a cup or cold water, done to
the least ones is considered to be done for Jesus himself with whom he
identifies fully. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus calls these least ones “my
brothers” by Jesus, indicating that they could become most vulnerable “little ones” in their mission work. It is
certain that any kind deed or help and support given to any of the three
categories of people – prophets, the righteous, and the little ones – will not
go unrewarded.
4. Application to life
In today’s gospel Jesus teaches us that sometimes in order to
follow him and to live according to his gospel-values, we may have to displease our own parents and family. Faithful following
of Christ may at times bring opposition, criticism and rejection from the members of our own family. Jesus does not advocate disloyalty to family or
“don’t care” attitude towards it, but instructs us to put loyalty to him and his gospel much above our loyalty to
our own family.
In other words, what Jesus says in today’s gospel is that our loyalty
to him must take precedence over our family affections, if they prevent us from following him
radically. Even in families which are living in close bonds of natural
affections, he can become a cause of rift or conflict, if one member follows him strictly
(radically) and the other members do not. At that time, Jesus says, we should
not hesitate to sacrifice our natural affections for blood-related family
members in order to stand by his values. If we are unable to make sacrifices
and renounce our self-interests for the sake of Christ, then we become unworthy of Christ who sacrificed himself totally for
our love. It is in this type of sacrifice we get a share of Christ’s cross, which in turn becomes our own personal cross. It
is a terribly difficult lesson to practice, since we know “blood is thicker
than water.”
The question is whether we are loyal to Christ even at the cost of
displeasing those who are near and dear to us. If we extend
this message a bit further, we can apply the same thing to young people who
have the natural inclination to please their friends and peer group when they do something wrong. They have a
tendency to yield to group pressure even if something is immoral or wrong. The question asked by today’s
gospel is: Should
they place loyalty to their friends above loyalty to Christ and his gospel?
There are two types of Christian families: (1) those which are interested in serving human society or the Church and teach their
children the same values; and (2) those which are closed in on themselves or
are exclusively for themselves. They teach their children to be selfish and exclusively look for their own economic
prosperity or earning maximum wealth even with dishonest means taught by the world. Jesus teaches us
that our family, though very dear and important to us, is not a god to be
worshipped. He wants us to look beyond our blood-relations, natural affections and purely personal gains.
He wants us to work for building up a larger and universal family or community called the Kingdom of God where his qualities of peace, justice and
brotherhood would reign. If our natural family prevents us from collaborating
with God to build up this universal family, or if our family members become an
obstacle to God’s purpose of building up his Kingdom, Jesus tells us in today’s
gospel, we must be willing to hurt our
own family or suffer opposition and criticism from our own family members. Do
we care to give priority to the Kingdom-values such is truth, justice
and peace in our families? If yes, we shall take care not to inculcate worldly
values of competition, corruption, intolerance, racial or cast prejudices in
our children.
Jesus further teaches in today’s gospel that indifference or unwelcoming attitude towards prophets of God, the righteous and the little
ones is indifference or unwelcome to him. Today’s prophets could be anyone who speak for God and stand for
the values of his Kingdom. Jesus promises that those who respect them as God’s
representatives, listen to them and take care of them will get the same reward
reserved to prophets. Today’s righteous persons could be Christians among us who try to live out their faith and
are considered holy. Today’s little ones are all the poor, the marginalized, the powerless and the
voiceless.
Welcoming all three categories of people, namely the
prophets, the righteous ones and the little ones, may involve costs in terms of money,
accommodation or sharing our space with them and put us also in danger of
opposition or threats. Sometimes we may not like to welcome prophets and the
righteous because their presence can be a threat for ourselves. Their words and
admonition may make us aware of the need of change in our lives. Christ is
passing by everywhere in my neighbourhood, workplace and on the street.
Welcoming people, being kind to them, rendering a helping hand and listening to
them is equal to welcoming and treating Christ. He also comes in the guise of
the sick, the suffering, the vulnerable and the outcast. Any thoughtfulness and
act of kindness to these people is like giving “a cup of cold water.” This small
cup could also be given in the form of a smile to a sad face, a word of
encouragement, a SMS sent to a troubled heart, a phone-call to a lonely heart,
etc.
What are the things we consider as real loss or gain in our life? Only by spending our life for others we can find joy
in life. Jesus makes it very clear that none of the believers can make an
excuse for not sacrificing anything for the cause of his mission. Even a cup of
cold water, that is, the smallest service rendered to others, especially the
least ones, makes us worthy followers of Christ. Who are these least ones in
our surrounding? Are we concerned about them or indifferent to them?
5. Response to God's Word
Do we easily give up Christian values when they are opposed by our
family members? Do we willingly carry the cross of criticism, condemnation and
rejection from our own family members for the sake of Christ and his gospel? Do
we show indifference to prophet-like or righteous people? Do we totally
disassociate from them? Who are the least ones around our place? What kind
deeds can we do to such people?
6. A Prayer
Lord Jesus, give us the courage and strength to carry the cross of
opposition, criticism and rejection by our own family members when we live your
gospel-values in a radical manner. May we place our loyalty to you above
loyalty tom our own family. Amen.
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