June 28, 2020

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Fr. Leo


“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.” (MT)


Jesus is very demanding in today’s Gospel from Matthew.  The Lord wants our full attention because of the fullness of love he desires from us.  Jesus isn’t saying we should not love our parents or children, he is reminding us that we have those gifts because of Him.  Our gratefulness and love are to reflect God’s love, by loving him in return.

When we put God first and pick up the cross of truth, love, justice and mercy, we unite ourselves to God who unites us with our parents and our children.  If we don’t love God fully and walk in God’s way, we will never fully love the people in our lives. It is trough living the cross of Christ, which is gift, that we come to our true selves which exist in unity with God and all God’s creation. God is the love we experience with others.  In loving God and others, we are simply returning the love he has given us in our being created in God’s image.

Following Christ, is awakening to the unifying God-ness of which we are a part.  Our discipleship in Christ is to throw away false ego needs that only divide us.  True humility recognizes our unity in God, and the gift it is to love others as God loves us.  In doing so, God’s love for us becomes an unquestioned reality in our souls.  We become a “Christ” source of the growing awareness of God in all things to be experienced by those open to the capricious spirit of God.

Maybe another way of grasping this is though the words of Fr. Thomas Keating, “Only God matters, but because of God, all things matter.”  To love others requires us to first love God with our whole being, mind, body and soul. This love has been placed in us from the beginning of time, and will continue after space and time have been transcended in the full experience of the cross and resurrection that leads to eternal live. 

Let us ask God to awakening in us the awareness of his love, that we may live in that awareness and become a font of love to all.