Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 28, 2020
Jesus said to his apostles, “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 the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.
“Whoever welcomes you welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward; and whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous; and whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple—truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”
This passage is part of the missionary discourse, one of five major discourses in Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus is preparing his twelve disciples for the rough road ahead of them. Part of the challenge of discipleship is giving our loyalty to Christ above all other loyalties and loves. We should hear the words, “I have come to bring not peace but the sword,” in their proper context. Jesus is not calling for warfare or chaos, rather, he is assuring us that, as disciples, we will inevitably face opposition and sacrifice. The life of a disciple is a cross-shaped life.
This life of sacrifice can be intimidating, but, as the last part of this Gospel passage teaches us, Jesus accepts gifts of any and all amounts—gifts of the prophet, of the righteous man, and even the cup of water. However small our gift, it expresses and strengthens our loyalty and love to the one who brings peace.
Later in this same Gospel, Jesus forms a new family when he points to his disciples and says, “‘Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Mt 12:46-50). While debate and disagreement surround us on our campus and in our country, I have grown increasingly in awe of the startling reality that regardless of our differences—homelands, majors, pastimes, political views, you name it—we are united more intimately than we could ever be divided, because we are one family in the Body of Christ.
Prayer
Lord God, we are thankful that we may come before you, confused, even puzzled at times at our failures and weakness in serving you. We know that if we seek forgiveness, we shall find it. You have assured us that even the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner turning back to the Lord of love and forgiveness. Hear our prayer, Lord, and look not at our failures, but at our hearts that desire to be one with you. Let us honor you in word and deed, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Saint of the Day
St. Irenaeus was a bishop who so thoroughly refuted a certain strain of heresy in his region that his words were used throughout the Church to guide the truth that has been handed on to us today.
He was born in 125 and was educated by St. Polycarp, who personally knew and learned from St. John. Irenaeus was sent as a missionary to what is now Lyons, France. Trading routes were leading to the development of that region, and the Church was growing there. Irenaeus was assigned to work as a priest under the bishop, St. Pothinus.
The region fell under a persecution and Irenaeus was chosen to travel to Rome to deliver a letter and speak with the pope about some matter. While he was away, Pothinus was killed, along with many of the other priests who worked with him. Irenaeus stayed in Rome until it was safe, and later he returned to Lyons as its new bishop.
He was bishop there for some 20 years, and expanded the Church in the area. He even spoke the native Celtic dialect instead of his own Greek. Certain deviations of the faith were spreading through the area, and Irenaeus was determined to refute them and guide his flock with the true faith. He learned every variation of the heresy and then explained all of the distorted beliefs in a large work that also described the true faith that came to him from the apostles and is contained in Scripture.
These heresies were from a strain of thought called Gnosticism, which seemed attractive to people because it claimed to offer them secret wisdom that was not available to everyone. Irenaeus said that he was determined to “strip the fox.” His work in defense of the faith spread rapidly and was used everywhere to refute gnostic belief, which was a major threat to the early faith.
It is believed that Irenaeus was martyred, but there is little evidence for this. He died around the year 202, and his relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
St. Irenaeus, you defended the early Church from secret sects and ensured the truth of our faith today—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Irenaeus is available for use under a Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication. Last accessed March 19, 2025 on Wikimedia Commons.
