Gospel for July 2 2023 – Matthew 10:37-42
Gospel Reflections for July 2 2023
Loyalty, Patriotism, and Faith
All these themes come together in a remarkable way in this Sunday’s Gospel. Who are you loyal too? To what nation do you pledge allegiance? Who do you believe?
In the ancient world, all answers would center on your family. That is where you would place all your loyalty, allegiance, and faith. Therefore, it is remarkable that Jesus says these amazing words in the Gospel.
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.
This Gospel was written at a time when some family members chose the way of Jesus while the rest of the family did not. I am sure many families today have members who are on a different path than our faith. You can imagine the hurt feelings. However, those early Christians continued to love their pagan family even as they went their separate ways.
That was the unique Christian virtue that made such a difference. While ancient people loved their own family, they could care less about the family next door, or people different from them. Christians were called to love every single person on the planet as their brother and sister. No exceptions!
Following Christ calls for your faith, hope, love, and courage to follow His path …and also your love for those who do not …even if in your own family.
This kind of love made a difference among the pagans. They had never experienced this kind of unconditional love before. It is no wonder that those early Catholics soon converted the entire Roman Empire, and even the Roman Emperor himself!
Our nation’s founders affirmed that our nation’s success would be based on the virtues of loyalty, patriotism, and the religious faith of individual people, independent of family connections or social rank, and entirely on people of good will working together, and in the pursuit of their happiness.
In a new nation without any police force, this new nation needed strong and courageous individuals who were personally committed to a life of loyalty, allegiance, and especially …religious faith!
God Bless!
Fr. Dave
Father Dave your words were so needed for me today especially as I continue worrying and fear a caregiving situation for my 97 year old dad. Also will continue the love, faith and hope for our and other adult children who have fallen away from the Catholic Church.
I’ve been spiritually energized this morning!
In Good Health! Thank you!
God bless your home and to your family for your generosity and kindness towards your beloved father. God works miracles in people who take care of their parents, therefore your adult children will follow your footsteps and your renewed faith and, with God’s help they will return to the Holy Church.
God bless you.
Thank you!
I am so glad my article helped your situation! God bless you!
Today we celebrate the feast day of Junipero Serra who came to early America to spread these ideas to indiginous Inhabitants speaking a language he did not understand to aid them in attaining eternal Salvation. Taking up his cross ,leaving Family and Comfort to aid and educate the population of a foreign land.
His reward was Sainthood and in some cases condemnation for his efforts. This Gospel tells it like it is. His total trust and Love of God was insurmountable. Let us all emulate his courage and stamina in making our lives stand for something that Grand and Eloquent.
Well said. Once people discover the real truth about Padre Serra they will come to know the amazing saint that he was. On the first day he arrived in Mexico from Spain he was bitten on the leg by an insect. It never healed. The saint who was famous for walking up and down the California Coast on behalf of the Indians, and protecting them from the Spanish soldiers …walked with a limp!
God bless your home, family and children, for your generosity and kindness towards your beloved father.
Thank you!
Hello, I have a story that relates to this gospel reflection. I will try to be as brief as possible.
My sixth great-grandfather was one of the early Dutch settlers in the state of New York. He settled in the Mohawk Valley. He was a firm Christian, deeply religious, bringing up his children in the faith. He was quite an old man when he died (97), in the confident hope of a glorious resurrection.
He became good friends with a mohawk Indian chieftain ( or king ). The mohawk chieftain loved Grandfather Hendrick so much, that he adopted his name as his own, and became known as King Hendrick, the mohawk chieftain. He then gave Grandfather Hendrick 650 acres of land in the Mohawk Valley.
King Hendrick decided to convert to Christianity and became baptized into the faith. His daughter Jacomyntie, a mohawk princess (I believe her name was a dutch adoption), married one of Grandfather Hendricks sons.
Grandfather Hendrick had eight sons who all fought in the American Revolution. Sadly, one of them, a Lieutenant, was killed at the Battle of Oriskany, N.Y.
Great story! You are lucky to have such detailed knowledge of your family ancestors, and to have such great ancestors too!
I realize this is off topic and wish I could find a more appropriate place to post it. If you answer my question and I verify that I saw your response, it would be great if you could then delete my comment. I hope that’s ok!
I have been overthinking about a situation from many years ago and was hoping for some clarity on the issue. As some background information, I attend Mass every week and, other than the situation that I am about to mention, have never missed Mass, except when feeling sick. (Well, I can’t definitively vouch for every Sunday Mass when I was a baby and such based simply on my memory 😉 haha, although that was before the age of reason anyway.)
Since the event I am about to describe was so long ago, I’m not even 100% sure what year it occurred. I don’t *think* I was a teen; my best guess is that I was in college, but I could be wrong. It was Easter, and my mom was ill. My dad was presumably already at Mass. My older brother planned to take me to Mass. (I did not learn how to drive until at some point when I was an adult. I’m pretty sure that I had not even received any driving lessons by this Easter, but I could be wrong. I definitely remember that it was not considered a reasonable option for me to do the driving.) Both my brother and I did not get enough sleep the night before. I remember our mom being concerned about us getting sick for reasons related to that, but presumably a key concern was also safety while driving. I believe this was directly expressed. Either way, when recalling the incident, I consider it to be one of the reasons.
So, I ended up going back to sleep and not attending Mass that day. At the time, I assumed that was a valid reason to not attend; otherwise, I would have gone. If a seemingly rare evening Mass on Easter day was available at some parish, I also would not have thought about that possibility. I only recently discovered Easter evening Masses were available at a parish.
QUESTION 1: From as far as you can tell based on the above, was this a legitimate reason to not attend Mass? Or was it a sin? I think that nowadays I would be much more careful about making the assumption that this was a valid reason and might have tried to find another way to get to Mass (or investigated evening Masses on Easter at a reasonable distance). I was younger and living at home then.
I also likely consented to the possibility of getting sick being a legitimate reason, but I was probably sleep deprived, not really thinking through it carefully, and trusting my mom’s advice since she is solid in her faith, etc. Nowadays I wouldn’t consider that part to be a reason, except in rare circumstances, but, again, I’m pretty sure safety was a key issue involved.
QUESTION 2: If a sin, was this a mortal sin? I realize that there are three conditions for a mortal sin: grave matter, full knowledge, and deliberate consent. Grave matter seems applicable, IF it wasn’t a valid reason. I think that “full knowledge” and maybe even “deliberate consent” still wouldn’t be applicable, but I could be wrong. I didn’t know at the time that it was a sin—and I don’t think that was me making excuses. In other words, if I thought it wasn’t a valid reason, I would have been more adamant about us finding a way to go. It was “deliberate consent” in the sense that I consented to not go, but not in the sense that I was turning my back on going to Mass.
Anyway, I realize I could ask this in my next Confession, but I also don’t want to keep deliberating over this until that happens. Likewise, I have had times over the years where I have been scrupulous about sin, so I don’t know if I should confess this “just in case it’s a sin” to avoid that habit when possible (and, of course, do so when it’s necessary).
Thanks so much in advance!
There are many circumstances where we choose to not go to Mass or cannot go to Mass. Sickness, travel schedules, family crises, can all be reasonable excuses. Laziness, forgetfulness, or watching a sports game on TV are sins, but normally these are venial sins of a lack of perspective and our not truly recognizing the meaning of the Mass. These Venial Sins are actually forgiven at the next Mass. It is a Mortal Sin if you truly know the meaning of the Mass and you reject it. In a Mortal Sin there is no ambiguity or uncertainty. There is full and complete awareness of what you are doing. That sin can only be forgiven in Confession. Hope this helps!