June 28, 2026: Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Who are you? Your first response to that question would probably be to give your baptismal and last names. Something interesting happens as you try to answer the question 10 more times. You’ll discover that a high percentage of your responses come from your relationships: family, work, neighborhood, nationality and perhaps even a sports team. Every one of those affiliations has a part in making you who you are.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus turned his culture upside down in regard to families. In an era in which the family meant everything to people, he turned his back on his own family and his hometown. He was establishing a totally different type of family. That scandalized many who knew him. Jesus himself admitted that he was causing division (Matthew 10:34-36). Granted, his family and hometown didn’t always appreciate him for who he was; thinking he was crazy, they tried to get him back home and under control (Mark 3:21). But that wasn’t the reason for distancing himself from all that had been home.
Jesus’ idea of family was very different from that of his contemporaries — and much larger. So, too, his sense of identity. He knew he was part of the whole God created. So, in this reading, Jesus was talking not only about family, but about how we manage our relationships and what that means for our identity. We are who we are because of who we love and who has loved us — and those who have not loved us, and our response to that.