Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” Mt. 10: 37

A long time ago, I heard a sermon in which the priest made a peculiar, but intriguing statement. It was this: 

“Water is thicker than blood.”

He was referring to the question St. Paul poses in today’s reading from his letter to the Romans: “Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried with him through baptism … so that … we might live in newness of life.” 

Matthew, the author of today’s gospel passage, offers a similar thought with his puzzling and often upsetting assertion that “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” 

To begin to grasp this, we must consider the time and the place in which Jesus made this claim. Jewish families in Jesus’ time were controlled by the unquestionable authority of the father. Everyone in his household lived in total submission to him. This kind of domination often led to abuses of one kind or another. 

Today’s sacred writings remind us that Jesus and Paul recognized that this notion of family was too small, too narrow, too restrictive. The larger, and far more important reality was the conviction that the waters of baptism can create a new kind of family – a family composed of people who have discovered that an entirely different style of living is attainable. 

This is how the waters of baptism can truly be thicker than blood. 

Baptism matters. 

This is what Jesus and Paul are both saying. 

Baptism changes us. It calls us to re-think our value system, to re-view what truly counts in life, to re-commit ourselves to what will surely last against all odds. 

Our baptism is a marker point. It is an immersion into a life that is out of the ordinary, and introduces us to a lifestyle that is wholeheartedly focused on the reality of God. 

Since most of us were mere infants when this sacred ceremony took place, it’s important for us as adults to review and to meditate upon the powerful words  spoken on our behalf at that time. In doing so, we will be reminded that we were originally “bathed in light,” and given the mission to be “followers and witnesses to the gospel.”

Ultimately, then, what Jesus is teaching each of us by these very challenging words in today’s gospel are two things: 

First, Jesus is calling us to share his own passion for God. He wants us to light a fire that will burn in our hearts just like it did in his. He is asking us to not just praise and adore and worship him, but most important of all: 

Follow him.  

Do as he did. Love what he loved. Be committed to what he was committed to: service and compassion.  

Second, Jesus is asking us to join him in creating a new type of family. He wants us to leave behind the kind of family so prominent in his time and begin forming a family united by the common desire to do God’s will. 

In a word, Jesus wants us to become re-baptized.   

In doing so, Jesus asks us to re-imagine what the word “family” can mean, namely, a community of people dedicated to witnessing to the world what life could be like if we were willing to be transformed, changed, re-baptized. 

Admittedly, that will not be easy. It will involve stretching us, pulling us out of our small selves, introducing us to something bigger and richer and fuller. It will involve taking us to a whole new level of living. 

Even to one where “Water is thicker than blood.”  

Ted Wolgamot, Psy.D.

NOTE:  

A quote from Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Washington, D.C., the only African-American archbishop in the United States and a past president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops:

“For Catholics and all believers, racism is more than a moral and national failure; it is a sin and a test of faith. Racism is America’s original sin, enduring legacy, and current crisis. Racist attitudes and actions, along with white supremacy and privilege, destroy the lives and diminish the dignity of African-Americans and so many other Americans. Racism also threatens the humanity of all of us and the common good. Racism divides us, reveals our lack of moral integrity, limits our capacity to act together, denies the talents and contributions of so many, and convicts us of violating the religious principles and the national values proclaim. 

We must examine our own attitudes and actions in order to seek conversion from sin and turn our hearts toward Christ in order to end personal and structural racism …. This moment calls us be the Church of hope that Jesus Christ created us to be in a world full of pain and despair.” 

NOTE 2: 

The National Catholic Reporter lists the following Videos and Podcasts concerning the issue of racism:

“Pope Francis and U.S. Bishops Respond to George Floyd’s Killing” (Catholic Mobilizing Network)

“A Response to Racism” (Commonweal Magazine)

“Catholic Resources for Racial Justice 2020” (Michael Bayer)

 PERSONAL NOTE:

I just finished reading a book that many of you might find as enlightening and insightful as I did. It is entitled: White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism, by Robin DiAngelo. 

Written by a white anti-racist educator, I found it to be extremely insightful and instructive. More importantly, the New York Times described it as an “in-depth exploration of how white fragility develops, how it protects racial inequality, and what we can do to engage more constructively.”  

On a final personal note, I highly recommend reading Fr. James Martin’s Facebook message highlighting a beautiful profile of Martin Gugino, a Catholic activist dedicated to peace and justice who has been publicly vilified by President Trump. A full discussion of this tragedy can be found on Fr. Martin’s Facebook page, as well as in the original article discussing this matter in Commonweal magazine. 

A Prayer: 

Dear God,

In our effort to dismantle racism, we understand that we struggle not merely against flesh and blood but against powers and principalities – those institutions and systems that keep racism alive by perpetuating the lie that some members of the family are superior and other inferior. 

Create in us a new mind and heart that will enable us to see brothers and sisters in the faces of those divided by racial categories.

Give us the grace and strength to rid ourselves of racist stereotypes that oppress some of us while providing entitlement to others.

Help us to create a church and a nation that embraces the hopes and fears of oppressed people of color where we live, as well as those around the world.

Heal your family God, and make us one with you, in union with our brother Jesus, and empowered by your Holy Spirit. 

Amen. 

(Source: Pax Christi)