Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time A.  June 26, 2005.  Our Lady of Grace 5:15, 9:30.  2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a.  Romans 6:3-4, 8-11.  Matthew 10:37-42.

Almost twelve years ago I began thinking about getting a puppy.  Our family never had a dog when I was growing up, so going out and purchasing a puppy was a new idea.  When I chose the breed I noticed that the average life span of the dog was eleven years.  I immediately realized that I would probably live longer than the puppy.  That made me very sad even before I went out looking for the dog.  I shared my concern about the puppy not living for as long as I would live with a group of children I was teaching.  One little boy raised his hand and with the simple wisdom of a little child said, “I think you should get the puppy anyway – you will have a lot of fun with him before he dies.”   I took the little boy’s advice.  Now I am stuck with the other end of my dilemma.  Shadrack just passed his eleventh birthday and he is beginning to have trouble walking. 

Anyone who has lost a family pet knows what pain it can bring.  Even love for a pet tugs powerfully at our hearts.

No one has a baby expecting that they will outlive the child.  By the very nature of things children bury their parents; parents do not go to the funerals of their children.  Yet it happens.  I have watched parents stand at the bed side of a dying child.  I have helped them get through the funeral of one of their young or older children.  Of all the loves that God has placed in our hearts, none is stronger than the love a parent has for a child.  Of all the pains that haunt the human race none is deeper than then the pain of losing a child.  The love between a parent and a child is beyond explaining.  It is a very special kind of love, as great as or even greater than the love between a husband and wife.   To understand today’s gospel we must first understand the depth of human love.

Jesus 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… Whoever finds his life, will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Jesus teaches us that all human love is weak and pail, no matter how strong it may be, in comparison to the love we are to have for the One who created us and died on the cross for us.  The teaching of Jesus we receive today is a restatement of the great commandment that lies at the very heart of our Christian life. , “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul and with all of your strength.”  Just as it is impossible to explain the love a father and mother have for their children, it is also impossible to explain the even greater love followers of Jesus have for Jesus as they come to know and experience Jesus in a deep and powerful way as their savior and their faithful friend.   

This past week more than 300 priests met with Archbishop Flynn in Rochester for our bi-annual meeting.  The words of the Archbishop to us were loud and clear.  He told us that beyond our rituals, beyond our laws and teachings, and even beyond our differences, there is Someone who unites us and brings peace and joy to our lives.   He reminded us that our Catholic Faith is about a living person, Jesus Christ.  The meaning and power of our lives are dependent upon the complete surrender of ourselves to the loving heart of Christ.   Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  Love is always about losing ourselves for the sake of the one we love.  The Archbishop challenged us to fall in love with Christ in new and deeper ways. 

This past week we celebrated the feast of St. Thomas More.  I am fascinated by St. Thomas More because he was a layman.  He was a politician and the second most powerful person in England after the king.     He was a husband and the father of a family.  He was a very wealthy man.   Yet in the midst of all the distraction in his life and beyond all the loves in his life, Thomas More knew whom he loved most. 

Out of love for God and loyalty to the Church Thomas More refused to acknowledge King Henry VIII as the head of the Church in England.  Because Thomas More was seen not only as a powerful man politically, but also as a man of great integrity, it was very important to the King that Thomas acknowledge him as head of the Church.  From prison, on the day before he was put to death, Thomas wrote to his favorite daughter Margaret saying, “Our Lord bless you, good daughter, and your good husband, and your little boy, and all yours, and all my children, and all my godchildren and all our friends… I never liked your manner towards me better than when you kissed me last; for I love (it) when daughterly love and dear charity has no time to look to worldly courtesy.  Farewell, my dear child, and pray for me, and I shall (pray) for you and all your friends, that we may merrily meet in heaven.”    The next morning Thomas Moore was executed by order of King Henry VIII.   When he was invited to speak before he was beheaded, Thomas said very simply, “I die the King’s good servant, but God’s first.”

The life of St. Thomas More is a commentary on the truth and the power of today’s gospel.  His public witness embarrassed the bishops of England, all of whom took an easier way out, except for one, Bishop John Fisher, who also died for his faith.  As husband and father Thomas knew what this gospel passage demanded of him. “Whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me… Whoever finds his life, will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  For the grace to love Christ above all things we give God thanks and praise.