In the right order

Jesus said to his Apostles: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household. “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 righteous 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 he is a disciple, amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward.” When Jesus finished giving these commands to his Twelve disciples, he went away from that place to teach and to preach in their towns.  (Matthew 10: 34 -11, 1)

Let us sincerely examine our conscience: do we love creatures, for example our closest family members, more than we love God? We believe, after all, that there is nothing wrong with loving our parents or children absolutely. But in reality if we do not put God first, we will not even be able to love those closest to us very well. Indeed, the source of all love is God. So if we do not draw from this source, no human love can be true, pure, and holy. If not, often love will be selfishness. It will be disguised as love and good feelings. We should speak with our spiritual director or confessor to understand if we love God and our neighbour in the right order.