An elderly gentleman had serious hearing problems for a number of years. He went to the doctor, and the doctor was able to fit him with a set of hearing aids that let him hear 100%. He went back a month later, and the doctor said, "Your hearing is now perfect. Your family must be really pleased that you can hear again." The gentleman replied, "Oh, I haven't told my family yet. I just sit around and listen to the conversations. And I've changed my will three times."
Maybe a lot goes on in our families, behind our backs. Raise your hand if your family is perfect. Anyone? I'll wait. The family I come from is not perfect. Maybe your family is not perfect either. And you know what? That's okay. We are all in this together, and no one has it all perfectly figured out.
Family Is at the Heart of God's Plan
Which is a strange thing to admit right before reading a Gospel where Jesus, of all people, sounds like He's about to make family life harder, not easier. "I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother." If you were hoping for a nice, gentle passage to nod along to before lunch, today is not that day. But that's really what Jesus is naming when He says a household can divide over Him. He's not describing a design flaw. He's describing what everyone at that dinner table already knew: family is where the masks come off. The world sees our best behavior. Our family sees us running out of patience in the cereal aisle. It's our most vulnerable room in the house, and, not coincidentally, the one Jesus chooses to walk straight into.
Amidst our shortcomings, the family, our families, are at the heart of God's plan. A family, good or better, perfect or not perfect, is still the best place to be. Sometimes we may feel like nothing good can come from family; the biggest struggles we have in life happen there. The people in our family see us at our best, and most often see us at our worst. When the masks for the outside world come off, the real us is shown in the family. But despite all the problems we experience, family remains one of the foundational Godly institutions of the world. Family is God's masterpiece as St. John Paul II calls it, with flaws, arguments, burnt dinners, and everything else.
Truth Is Sacred
The people closest to us are also, very often, the people whose approval we fear most. Their love can bless us, but their expectations can quietly become a leash we didn't notice we were wearing. It's the reason a grown man will still rearrange his entire life around what his mother might think of it. The reason a woman with three degrees and a corner office still feels fifteen years old the moment her father raises an eyebrow at her choices. We call it love, and much of it is. But somewhere along the way, love quietly recruited a second job as judge and jury, and we let it, because saying no to the people who love us feels like a betrayal even when it's simply growth. Jesus isn't asking us to cut that leash out of spite. He's asking us to notice it's there, and to trust that conscience, not applause from the head of the table, is what He's actually after.
That is the sword Jesus is describing. Not a household that hates each other, but a household where love for truth eventually has to outrank the family opinion. It's uncomfortable precisely because family is sacred, and Jesus never pretends otherwise. He simply insists the masterpiece isn't finished yet, that even the people who raised us, who love us fiercely, don't get final veto power over our conscience.
So today, ask yourself honestly: where am I choosing the comfort of family approval over the courage of following Christ, and what would it look like to love my family deeply without letting them take God’s place?
- Today’s Readings
- Father Boby's inspirational homily was recorded live during Mass at the Father Peyton Center this morning. You can view the Mass (and the Rosary at the 30-minute mark) on the Family Rosary YouTube page.
- To join the Rosary and Mass Livestream, visit the Family Rosary YouTube or Facebook page at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, Monday – Friday. Consider inviting others to join, too! (*If you are not a member of Facebook and a signup window appears, simply select the X at the top of the pop-up message and continue to the livestream.)
