Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
The first line of today’s Gospel passage can be confusing as it might initially appear that Jesus is speaking against the importance of loving familial relationships. It’s important to read carefully though in order to understand what Christ is really getting at in this context. Jesus does not say “do not love your father, mother, son, or daughter.” What He does say is that we should not love anything, even another person, more than we love God.
To make sense of this, consider that the Catholic definition of authentic love is willing the good of the other. What is a greater good than the love of God? Can there be something that you could possibly desire for another person that is greater, higher, or more fulfilling than their eternal, heavenly enjoyment of God’s presence? True love of another - of father, mother, daughter, son, sister, brother, friend, or neighbor means desiring union with them in accordance with the love of God. Proper relationship to others always requires proper relationship with God.
Thus, Christ is not saying do not love father and mother, but rather making the point that if someone loves a person or creature more than they love God, their relationships to both God and others will be inherently disordered. We all have likely witnessed or experienced the inherently negative effects that result from human relationships that are based on anything other than the pure desire for the good of the other. Thus, every relationship in our lives, whether to creatures or other people, should find both its beginning and end in the love of Christ.