Forgive

Jesus said to his apostles: “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 a righteous man 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 the little one is a disciple— amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.” (Matthew 10:37-42)

Yesterday we spoke of worthiness.  Recall: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed.”  During Mass we say: “Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”  Quite a meaningful change.

Now we hear Jesus tell us to love him more than our father and mother.  If not, we are unworthy.  Then, I guess most of us and I am unworthy.   However, there are mothers and fathers who abandoned us either physically or emotionally.  Some of us are guilty too.

Jesus never abandons us; he is always with us.   That’s a source of our strength.  Mothers and fathers can and do fail with that failure being caused by all sorts of circumstance such as poverty and outright selfishness.   We children must forgive them.  They do not know what they did (or didn’t do).  It’s not easy being a parent.

In a way, we lose our life when we are alienated from a parent.   We find it when we reconcile.    Only say the word - forgive - and we shall be healed.

Deacon David Pierce