The Nazareth Page  - A gospel meditation for your home

June 28, 2026 – Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew10:37-42

REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
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My wife and I have been blessed with a large family. And for the last fifty or so years, I confess to spending a lot of time and energy worrying about our kids, helping them when they needed us, inquiring about how they were doing and generally trying to be helpful and reliable parents. I cannot judge whether as parents we were overly involved or not. I can only say, as many parents would, they have been a major source of our joys and difficulties over the years. We have loved them a lot!

Then I read the following line from Jesus in today’s gospel: “And whoever loves a son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” My first reaction to reading these words is that Jesus seems to be putting himself in competition with our children for our attention and affection. Then I notice the “more” word, an invitation to enter the gospel’s world of “both-and.” This is especially a comparison often found in Matthew’s gospel.

For instance, Matthew writes that we are to love both God and neighbor. This does not create a kind of competition between God and neighbor, but rather a connection. We are called to unconditionally love both God and neighbor.  The ones near us and those distant.

We are to be disciples of Jesus and can show this by the simple giving cup of water to a thirsty child, something also mentioned in today’s gospel. Both this and that. Both God and creation. To be a disciple of Jesus means that your concern is for both those close to you and those at a distance.

This is a theme found in all the gospels. It points our relationship to God and to our neighbor is an interconnected reality. And given today’s concern for the healthiness of our terrestrial environment, we should include our relationship to Mother Earth with our connection to our creator.

Recent papal teaching has also reflected this “both-and” dynamic. Popes have written about pressing issues relating to global relationships involving war and peace. They have also addressed the ethical issues relating to care for our planet’s healthy survival. They advocate for better health care for all people. To those who complain that the church should stick to religious matters, the response should be that every pressing human issue  relating to health and survival has a religious dimension to it.

David M. Thomas, PhD