Being a Christian is always challenging. Our faith would force us to give up our selfishness so that it might be a battle within. The desires for wealth, power, and pleasure are incompatible with faith in God. We also have to fight against situations and people who try to dissuade us from our faith. We may be unable to practise our faith at our workplaces or during our work schedules, or we may be prohibited from practising it by society or those in authority.
The Gospel develops themes related to the sending of disciples on a mission, and Jesus warns us about this conflict. A disciple may experience rejection or misunderstanding as a result of their faith in Jesus, even within their families or in their closest environment. Many families today avoid discussing faith matters to maintain harmony at home. Although we seldom realise it, this lack of faith in God has become one of the main reasons for the unhappiness and conflict in our modern families.
The demands of discipleship are presented in all their harshness. Matthew wrote his Gospel in a time of persecution. To remain faithful to Christ, the disciples often had to break ties with those who mattered most – their parents, spouses and children. Because the rabbis had made the decision to expel those who adhered to the Christian faith from their synagogues, they were considered heretical and disowned by their families.
It is intended to encourage the persecuted Christians by reminding them of Jesus’ words in the Gospel. Jesus demands from the disciples the courage to remain without support, protection, and material security for the sake of his Gospel.
Jesus’ message is neither light nor abstract. It cuts right into our family lives. How many youngsters today care the least about their faith in God while choosing their life partners? How many Catholic parents take their kids to swimming lessons or music classes on Sundays and ignore their life in faith and their responsibility to bring up their kids in faith? And how many Catholic couples consider it normal to terminate a pregnancy when a child is inconvenient?
A remarkable promise is made to those who welcome preachers of the Gospel in the second part of the passage (vv. 40-42). “Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes him who sent me” (v. 40). Not everyone has received the same qualities and gifts from God. In different ways, but with the same generosity, every true believer is called to support those who dedicate themse
Father Josekutty Mathew CMF
