
WORSHIP & MEDITATION / Reflexión – June 28, 2026

The opening statement from Jesus in our Gospel today, is one that is difficult for many of us to digest. “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;” – our Lord touches on those who are often closest to us, and tells us that they must not be first in our lives. Rather that we must place Him first. The trouble with this, is that this is often misinterpreted. He is not telling to love these people less, He is simply telling us that for us to be worthy of His sacrifice for all of us, we need to love Him more.
The first time I encountered this piece of scripture, I believe I was about ten years old, and I had just had a dispute with my parents over the purchase of a brand-new Crossman pellet rifle. They (wisely) did not think that I was ready for that kind of responsibility, whereas I saw myself as the consummate woodsman and ready for that, and more. I took exception to what they said, and held a grudge. That very next Sunday, this piece of scripture was the Gospel reading at Church, and I remember thinking to myself – “well that’s easy, cause I’ll bet Jesus wouldn’t begrudge me my new pellet rifle”. Yeah right, Jesus in his wisdom, would not only have also said no to the proposition, but probably would have advised my parents to “spare not the rod of correction, lest ye spoil the child”.
The funny thing is, after a couple of weeks to cool off I began to feel a bit guilty about my feelings of being willing to love someone more than my folks. I actually asked our parish priest about my feelings by way of actually going to confession (something I definitely should have been doing more often). When he understood the complete circumstances involved, to his credit he managed to stifle any laughter, and to explain to me that Jesus, wasn’t telling us to love our parents any less. He was telling us to place Him above all else, and to spend more of our time focused on Him and to build a much stronger friendship with him.
The message hasn’t really changed much for us, even to this day. If we are truly taking to heart His message, and we bond ourselves more closely to him and ponder what he has done for us, then we will find ourselves loving Him above all else, and it will seem as natural to us as breathing. We can’t come to this point though without familiarity, deep familiarity and understanding. It’s impossible to love someone to that degree without truly knowing them. This is the challenge to each of us. Do we know him sufficiently that this kind of love seems effortless and natural. If not, we have some work ahead of us. What is more, it not undue labor at all. We expend our energy on so many things that are completely transient. How could we possibly justify not spending our time on pursuing a love that is perfect and eternal. We’re strange creatures, in that we seem so often attracted to the things that make the least sense. God on the other hand is the perfection of both love and logic. This is why only through knowing Him well can we find the happiness and peace we crave.