Among the truths that Jesus gave His Apostles before sending them out into the world to preach His gospel are the following: “Do not think I have come to bring peace upon the earth; I have come to bring a sword, not peace… He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me, is not worthy of Me. He who seeks his life shall lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake, will find it.” When He was presented in the temple as a baby, Simeon prophesied: “This child is set for the rise and fall of many and as a sign of contradiction.” Yet Jesus’ message is one of love and good will. He proclaims the Father’s love and the coming of His kingdom. He invites people to the peace found in life in obedience to His Father’s will.
The more faithful a Christian becomes the deeper the chasm between him and those who refuse to accept Christ. When it comes to a choice between family harmony and Jesus, members must value Jesus the divine source of their being and goal of their eternal happiness, infinitely higher than the most intimately loved parents, relatives, and friends. This often calls for cutting the bonds at the core of the deepest relationships. This is extremely hard to accomplish. Temptations of a psychological nature drive persons to preserve their dearest ties. But Jesus warns everyone: If you cling tenaciously to your natural life, abandoning Me for it, you shall lose your own eternal life. If you let your natural life go for My sake, you will find yourself enjoying divine, inexhaustible life.
Rev. Vincent Miceli, Rendezvous with God (pp. 159-60)
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