Readings: Isaiah 1:10-17; Psalm 50; Matthew 10:34-11:1

Today’s passage from Isaiah is a condemnation of hypocrisy and a call to justice. The Gospel gives conditions of discipleship. The shared themes I find in today’s readings are the dangers of disordered attachments and the call to act as a “sword” and a shield responding to the Lord in my heart.

The first reading is a reminder that outward expressions of religious ritual mean little unless our hearts are open to the Lord. The passage is a call to be an advocate and a shield for those who are oppressed and in need. I find it easier to do this structurally through service institutions. It is much harder for me to connect on a person-to-person basis.

I have always been bothered by today’s Gospel. I have a deep sense of attachment to my family. If taken literally I find this reading could be presenting an uneasy black and white choice between faith and family. When I try to imagine myself in the crowd of Jesus’ disciples, I try to put His words in context and see how the second half of today’s Gospel builds on that theme. Still, the first half leaves me challenged and disturbed by Jesus’ words. They do not fit my picture of the loving and forgiving Jesus.

I am reminded that there are differences within families. As we mature, we start to establish our own identities, with different thoughts and feelings from some family members. We have distinctive experiences. My biological family may not be as homogeneous as I had imagined. This is clearest when politics or religion come up as topics. We have our beliefs and they are not uniformly shared among those with whom we share DNA. I find consideration of my attachments to my family, my home, and the various “tribes” to which I give my assent was part of today’s Gospel challenge.

These readings leave me ready to pray about attachments and an open heart to the Lord. I will close with how St. Ignatius expressed this in prayer. Take Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will, all that I have and possess. Thou hast given all to me.
To Thee, O Lord, I return it. All is Thine, dispose of it wholly according to Thy will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.

God bless us all. Fr. Brian