"Whoever loves father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me . . . "

Bishop Fulton Sheen once said: "It's only because we are loved by God that we are loveable." This should help us to make sense of the hard saying we heard at the very beginning of today's Gospel reading. In that passage from Matthew 10 Jesus said, "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." Why would Jesus say such a thing? Well, before we can answer that question, we've got to deal with a more foundational one: Why do we love? Or, to put it another way: What is it that motivates us to love another person? It's the good that we perceive in the person, is it not? John loves Jane because he finds something good and attractive in her: her compassion, her joy, her patience, her kindness. But the fact is: everything that's truly good comes from the hand of almighty God. As we are told at the end of Eucharistic Prayer number 3, all good things have their source in the Lord, even those good things which come to us through other people. So yes, John loves Jane because of her compassion, joy, patience, and kindness; but the only reason Jane is compassionate, joyful, patient and kind is because God has given her the grace to be that way. This is what Bishop Sheen was getting at when he said that it's only because we are loved by God that we are loveable. God, who is love, places some of his love inside of us, and that grace is what makes us attractive to others. Consequently it makes perfect sense for Jesus to tell us in today's Gospel that our love for him must be primary. We are to love him with all our heart, because if it were not for him, there would be nothing loveable in us or in anyone else. In fact, if it were not for Jesus, we wouldn't even exist! As St. Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:16, "In [Christ Jesus] everything in heaven and on earth was created, . . . [and] in him everything continues in being."

This is a very important lesson to remember, especially when someone close to us dies. Here's a very common scenario: Uncle Joe passes away, and several members of his family get angry at God. They blame him for Uncle Joe's death, as if the Lord were some kind of divine assassin. What these family members have forgotten (or failed to realize) is that God is the one who created Uncle Joe in the first place. If it had not been for the Lord, Uncle Joe (with all his good qualities) would never have existed. They have also forgotten (or failed to realize) that God was the source of all the blessings and good things that they experienced during their lives through this deceased relative. Uncle Joe's love, his acts of kindness, his compassionate words--these were all inspired by the Lord's grace. So here they are blaming the God who gave their uncle life, who blessed their lives through their uncle, and who sent his Son to die so that they and their uncle could live forever!

What's wrong with this picture?!!!

The other day a man from town told me about a recent conversation he had with his 8 year-old daughter. The girl said, "Daddy, do you love me?" Her father, anxious to emphasize his affection for his daughter, responded, "I love you more than anyone else on this earth." The little girl said, "But what about God, daddy? You're supposed to love God more than me."