Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
June 28, 2020 – Year A
Readings: 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16A / Ps 89 / Rom 6:3-4, 8-11 / Mt 10:37-42
by Rev. Salvador Añonuevo, Pastor

Life since the beginning of this pandemic has been far from normal. We have had to make sacrifices to help prevent the spread of the virus, and some of us are feeling that our freedom to do what we want to do has been curtailed, while others see it as just a reflection of our imperfect lives and the world we live in. We all have to do some things that we may not want to do, but we have to do them. That’s just what life in this world is all about.

In today’s gospel, the Lord Jesus laid down to us the cost of discipleship. It is our privilege to have a God who loves us unconditionally, a God who even suffered and died for us and for our redemption, a God who promised to be with us always until the end of time. The history of God’s people tells us that God has always been with them, protecting and guiding them since the beginning of time.

But this same God is also telling us that with this privilege goes responsibility. We have to make sacrifices for Him and His people. In fact, He asks us to lose our lives, and to forget ourselves and our personal ambition. But then Jesus promised that “whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

We would all like to live a lifetime of peace and joy. But many of us here are old enough to realize that this kind of life simply cannot be obtained, in the purest sense, all the time. Life is a series of ups and downs. We might feel like we are walking in the clouds one day and then stepping in the mud the next day. But for those who trust in the Lord, they will be able to live in peace in spite of all this. The lives of the saints tell us that this is possible. As St. Paul said, “It is no longer I who lives, but Christ who lives in me.”

As Christians we hold on to that faith that will enable us to see our lives on earth as just an introduction to the life that will never end. In the meantime, we continue to walk with the Lord Jesus and follow His commands on how we should live our lives in this confused world. For, if we lose our lives for His sake, we will surely find them.