Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time 2026

Published: June 28, 2026

Bishop Anthony B. Taylor preached the following homily June 28, 2026.

Bishop Taylor

Who are the people you love the most? I'd say my parents, siblings and their families, and my closest friends. If one of them needed a kidney transplant and I was compatible, I'd give them one with no hesitation. If they needed money, I'd give them a loan, and if they couldn't pay it back, it wouldn't matter. I love them more than my money and my second kidney, but there's one person I love even more, and that's the Lord. I want to give him far more than money or a kidney: I want to give him my whole self. In today's Gospel Jesus says that's how it's got to be. Sure, we should honor our father and our mother, but he demands that we love him even more: whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me...whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Sure, we have to make sacrifices for those we love, but Jesus is talking about something much greater when he says: whoever does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me — after all, Jesus doesn't just sacrifice money or a kidney, he sacrifices his entire self, and this even for those who hate him, He does this because he loves the Father above all else and he had sent him to sacrifice himself for us. It's also what God has sent you to do. Taking up your cross and following Jesus means sacrificing your whole self for others like Jesus did — even for those who hate you. Meaning that our priorities should be God #1, others including our enemies #2 and ourselves #3 — the opposite of the priorities of our godless, materialistic society, namely: us #1, our ambition, our needs and desires, #2 our loved ones, #3 our country and #4 God and his will. In our society, there is no positive place for our enemies among our priorities, quite the opposite. It is a priority to protect ourselves from them while doing them harm. Correcting our priorities does not automatically ensure that we will always do the right thing — I often fail — but at least we'll be on the right track. If your priorities are wrong, you'll do the right thing only by accident and probably not very often. Better to stumble along the path that really does lead to the desired destination than to speed effortlessly down the wrong path that only leads you further and further from where you really want to go. Jesus says that whoever puts family ahead of him is not worthy of him: he's got to be our #1 priority. He says whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me, and since he sacrificed himself for others, including his enemies, doing good for others, including our enemies, has got to be our #2 priority. He say whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. And the only way to truly die to ourselves is by putting God's will and the needs of others before our own desires. The priorities preached by our society are #1 us, #2 our loved ones, #3 our country, and #4 God. By contrast, those proclaimed by Jesus are #1 God, #2 others, including our enemies and only after that ourselves. And the only country that has priority is the kingdom of heaven.