Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Making Jesus The Numero Uno

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Alphonsus Catholic Church, Brooklyn Center, MN

Sunday, July 2, 2023

One of the problems facing us today is the domestication of Jesus. People reduce him and see him merely as a nice and gentle figure. They claim they understand his moral teaching, that he is like many other great religious figures. They say Jesus echoes what other religious figures had said. And after that, they simply forget about him and move on with their lives. But Jesus was in his own lifetime and after the resurrection, a deeply subversive figure. And we must recover it and pay attention to it. In today’s Gospel (Matt. 10:37-42), one of the many classic examples of the unsettling nature of Jesus is on full display. While speaking to his apostles, he 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; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” Other religious figures would say, “Unless you love God more than father, mother, son and daughter you are not worthy of God. They would say, “unless you love God more than your very life…” As for Jesus, he says, “Unless you love me more than the highest good in life.” Who could possibly make such an outrageous demand? Someone who is God! It can’t be made by a mere prophet, a mere teacher, a mere spiritual leader, a mere religious founder, a mere sage, a mere philosopher or a mere political leader. And throughout his public ministry, Jesus spoke and acted like God. 

What’s the Lord demanding from us? Three things: Number one, make a choice! Jesus compels a choice in a way that no other religious founder did. From his lips we hear, “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30). Put differently, “it is either you are with me or against me.” Jesus is Lord. He is God. So, the simple implication is that we have to give up our whole life for him. He must be the center of our lives. Number two, practice radical detachment from the goods of this world. In themselves, the goods of this world are good. Having parents and loving them is good. Having children, loving and making sacrifices for them is good. At the same time, Jesus compels a radical detachment from anyone or anything that might divert our attention away from him. In our Gospel last Sunday, the Lord asks us to properly prioritize our fear when he said, “Fear no one… Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna.” In my homily I asked the question, “Who do you want to please above all and whom do you fear deep down?” Today, the question I have for you is, “who comes first in your life? Who is your numero uno?” If Jesus is your numero uno, your number one, if he is more important than anyone and anything else in the world, then practice detachment whenever you notice that your love for your loved one is overshadowing your love for the Lord. Make Jesus the central focus of your life. Be addicted to him. Be obsessed with him. Be drunk with the Lord. Wake up in the morning thinking about him; go through the day thinking about him, retire to sleep thinking about him. Number three, take up your cross and follow after him. What is the cross? It’s an instrument of torture and death. It is on that instrument that Jesus was pinned to death. Taking up your cross means dying everyday to sin and everything in the world that might prevent you from following the Lord. Get rid of them. St. Paul asks, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?” (Romans 8:35) If it is your spouse, detach! If it is your child, detach. If it is your job, detach. If it is your quest for power, detach. If it is your friendship, detach. If it is your country, detach. If it is your tribe or race, detach. If it is your religion, detach. If it is your pursuit in life, detach. If it is prestige, honor, fame, pleasure, sex, drugs, alcohol, position, detach. If it is your parents or siblings or children, detach. If it is your quest to look good and appear good, detach. Here is the good news: detaching from these and leaning supremely on Jesus the solid Rock does not weaken our love for others. It does not make us see worldly goods as evil. It rather helps us to appreciate and value them properly. In fact, loving parents, spouse, children, siblings, friends etc appropriately is hinged on loving Jesus supremely. The person who will properly love you is the one whose love for God is profound. The person won’t abuse you, won’t hurt you, won’t use you, won’t enslave you, and won’t joke with you. Why? Because their connection and relationship with God is forming them to see as God sees. It is going to help them understand the true meaning of love and be able to love the other as other, not for any material gain. Check this out! Loving the Lord above everyone and everything raises our love for others. It does not decrease it. 

We are disciples of Jesus. Right? If in the course of your faith journey, you face a choice between being his disciple and clinging to family ties, Jesus says, put me first ahead of everyone else. In the Bible, honoring one’s father and mother is commanded by the Torah (God’s law). Loving one’s neighbor which of course includes sisters, brothers, sons, daughters etc is also commanded by the Torah. But Jesus, the Lord of life, the giver of our parents, children, friends etc wants to be the principal neighbor. He wants his disciples to love their parents, children, friends, everyone but we are to love him more than all. If he commands us to love our enemies (Matt. 5:44), he certainly expects us to have a greater love for him. No friendship or relationship or attachment should be greater or deeper than our love for the Lord. Relationship with Jesus is far more important than any other relationship. Anyone who thinks otherwise, Jesus says, is not worthy of him, meaning that the person does not deserve to be his disciple. 

God bless you!