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What runs deeper than DNA.

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Gospel: Matthew 10:34 – 11:1

Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth.
I have come to bring not peace but the sword.
For I have come to set
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law;
and one’s enemies will be those of his household.

“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.

“Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet’s reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is righteous 
will receive a righteous man’s reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because he is a disciple–
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.”

When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples,
he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.

The Gospel of the Lord.

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“I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother.”

The last thing many families need in this modern world is more division. There are already plenty things that can divide us: politics, personality, identity, dreams. The list goes on. 

Why add faith to this potentially explosive equation?

It’s easy to wish a strong breeze came and swept this page away while Matthew was writing his Gospel. Surely, both he and Jesus understood how deeply families can hurt or help each other – the shared history and memories run so deep.

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But faith runs even deeper.

Deeper than DNA.

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There’s a God-shaped hole inside every human heart, which only God can fill – nothing else will satisfy it. Not even the best marriage, the tightest family, or all the money in the world. 

While these are certainly blessings, faith has a way of cutting us to the core when awakened.

I’ve listened to a number peers, for example, who have been happily married for years. But over time, one has experienced an emergent faith – a desire for Jesus – which the other has not. 

As a result, one spouse prays alone. Attends church alone. Questions alone. Or they begin seeking advice from those who have faith. While it’d be easier to ignore that God-shaped hole within, doing so only magnifies the reality it’s there. 

In that sense, faith can cause a rift in a marriage – not because faith is a negative thing, quite the opposite! – but because one spouse has ventured into a deeper level of reality – and themselves, while the other has not.

The same is true in terms of inter-generational relationships – parents versus children, and so on. I experienced this type of division when choosing to enter the seminary. Not everyone I loved shared the same desire for God.

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While this Gospel passage may leave us uneasy, it also points to a profound truth: we are loved – more than anyone, by God.

We belong to a family – more than any, to God’s family.

We will continue to search and seek until we find Who we are looking for. As Saint Augustine once proclaimed, “Our hearts are restless, until they rest in you, O LORD.”

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Image credits: (1) The New York Times (2) Grace Theological Seminary (3) Caffeinated Thoughts

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Your love and your grace. That is enough for me.

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Gospel: Matthew 10: 16-23

Jesus said to his Apostles:
“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves;
so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But beware of men, 
for they will hand you over to courts
and scourge you in their synagogues,
and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake
as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over,
do not worry about how you are to speak
or what you are to say.
You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak
but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
Brother will hand over brother to death,
and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.
You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another.
Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel
before the Son of Man comes.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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Father Walter Ciszek, S.J., spent twenty-three years in Soviet prison camps after being falsely accused of being a spy.

In his memoir, With God in Russia, Ciszek describes the horrific rigors of daily life, how prisoners lived under constant surveillance, worked inhumane hours, were tortured, and faced the constant threat of death. 

Determined to break him, Soviet officers drugged him, beat him, interrogated him, and occasionally, moved him from one camp to another.

Little did the guards realize that every time they moved Father Walter from one prison to another, they helped to stretch the kingdom of God.

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Everywhere he went, Father Walter celebrated Mass under the cover of darkness, led retreats, taught prisoners how to pray, and even baptized once hardened criminals. He was like a light shining in the darkness. 

All of this came as no surprise to him. Jesus predicted it would happen in today’s Gospel.

“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves,” he says. “Men will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness.” 

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What happened to Father Walter also happened to the first Christians. 

When they were persecuted in one town, they fled to the next. Doing so caused the Gospel to spread further and further, until it reached the ends of the world.

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So, what does this mean for us?

The Gospel can spread under every conceivable circumstance, even in labor camps, public floggings, and kangaroo courts. If it can spread there, then it can also spread around us.

Regardless of what our circumstances may be in this moment – whether we’re filled with blessings, or in dire need of grace – the Gospel can spread through us.

Much of that potential is determined by our own attitude, and how responsive we are to the Spirit. As one Saint once said, “Give me only your love and your grace. That is enough for me.” Father Walter Ciszek, pray for us.

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Image credits: (1) thisVineyard (2) America Magazine (3) Nothing More, Margaret Felice

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The real meaning of, “Take nothing with you.”

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Gospel: Matthew 10: 7-15

Jesus said to his Apostles:
“As you go, make this proclamation:
‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Cure the sick, raise the dead,
cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.
Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts;
no sack for the journey, or a second tunic,
or sandals, or walking stick.
The laborer deserves his keep.
Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it,
and stay there until you leave.
As you enter a house, wish it peace.
If the house is worthy,
let your peace come upon it;
if not, let your peace return to you.
Whoever will not receive you or listen to your words—
go outside that house or town and shake the dust from your feet.
Amen, I say to you, it will be more tolerable
for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment
than for that town.”

The Gospel of the Lord.

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There’s an old saying, “There are two sides to every story.”

Such is the case in today’s Gospel. On one hand, Jesus sends his disciples out to preach and to cure with the added instruction, “Do not take gold or silver or copper for your belts; no sack for the journey, or a second tunic, or sandals, or a walking stick.”

On the surface, it seems like the Lord is stripping his disciples bare, as if they must fend for themselves in the wild. But that isn’t his intention.

Rather, the Lord is building upon a Jewish tradition, which all of the Apostles would’ve understood. 

In ancient Israel, it was customary for a person to part with their walking staff, shoes, girdle of money, and to cleanse the dust from their feet before entering the Temple to pray. The idea is that a person is parting with all of their worldly cares and things before addressing God.

God comes first.

After leaving the Temple, a person could gather their belongings and re-enter the world.

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By instructing his disciples to part with all of their things before preaching and healing, Jesus is telling them to treat the entire world – including every person they meet – as if it is within Temple.

Meaning everything and everyone is holy, a type of dwelling place for God.

As Christians, we’re called to maintain that same type of attitude, treating all as if they are another Christ.

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The other side of the story is this: if the disciples are going out without a thing to their name, then they’ll need the good will and support of their brothers and sisters along the way.

While the Gospel should be preached free of charge, it is also an honor to care for those who share it, which is why the Church emphasizes the need for charity.

This is particularly true of supporting religious orders like Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity, who keep nothing but the Word of God, and depend entirely our support.

Perhaps this is what the Lord is asking of us today: to see the world as holy; to care for the poor; and to support those who preach the Gospel – not only in word but with their very lives.

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Image credits: (1) The Bridge Church (2) If I Walked With Jesus (3) Tumblr