STEADFASTNESS IN FAITH
This Sunday’s gospel is probably one of the hardest and most difficult readings to
understand in the Scriptures. What did Jesus mean when he said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple”? To take these words of Jesus literally can be very confusing and shocking. Hate is such a strong word that it is even unconceivable to hear it from the mouth of Jesus.
Marriage and family are two of the greatest gifts of God! What Jesus meant in the Gospel is that we should never love our relatives or ourselves more than Him; for those who would be disciples of Jesus Christ, love for God must come first. Loyalty to Jesus must come first. Obedience to Jesus must come first. So, when even the dearest family wants you to something that is the opposite of what Jesus wants for you, you must
remain faithful to your faith, not the family member.
So, what Jesus is doing here is warning those who want to be his disciples, telling them that the life of a disciple will be difficult. They will be put in situations where their own flesh and blood will oppose their faith or tempt them to disobey Jesus. As Jesus explained to us a few Sundays ago: “Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law” (Luke 12:51-53).
To have one’s own family or one’s own flesh oppose our faith is one of the severest trials, especially if it comes from one’s spouse, parents or children. At such a time, the temptation is great to compromise our faith in order to make our family happy and intact. One can only have the courage to remain firm in our faith in the midst of trials and difficulties if one has a personal encounter with Christ: a personal encounter that assures us that this faith that we have is not just a product of a social convention of people or a pious idea of one person but, truly we are here, faithful and convinced because we have experienced the redeeming love of God. If we remain faithful, God will find a way to touch the hearts of those who are opposed to us, eventually embracing the path of conversion. Our task is to remain faithful and unwavering.
With all the scandalous things that have beset the Church for many years, with all the sexual scandals of the clergy that we have heard and the incompetence of people who should have done something bold at the start to resolve the situation, why stay? Why are we here? These are questions that we might have gotten from family members who are opposed to our faith. We are still here because our faith is not founded on the priest who
baptized us or on the priests who continue to serve us in the parish, no matter how good and sincere they are, but rather, it should only be on the person of Jesus. It is that personal relationship with God and our own personal encounter with Him that faith would only make sense, even if those who have been tasked to lead the people to God have failed in their commitments. But also, we don’t just abandon Jesus because “Judas” was part of the mix—we need to be the other eleven disciples who stood by Jesus in the face of betrayal from his close friend. But, this should not preclude all of us to always work for ways to improve the internal workings in the church, ensuring that our faith communities are truly safe and an oasis of peace and tranquility. Looking at our own personal faith journey, is there anything that will ever convince us to give up our own faith at this point in our lives? If the answer is yes, what more do you need in order to be convinced on how much God wants you to remain or be grafted to Him? – Fr. Cary