Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

In the first reading, from the Book of Exodus, we hear about the Chosen People. They have escaped from Egypt. They have made their way to Mount Sinai. Here the Lord God will enter into a covenant with them. Moses, their leader goes, up to the top of the mountain. There he receives the Ten Commandments and is commissioned to speak God’s Word to the Israelites. The message is this: “If you hearken to my voice and keep my covenant.” That is a big “if.” What will happen to them if they do that? The Lord God says, “You shall be my special possession, dearer to me than all other people.”

Wow! That is very special. Won’t that make the other nations and peoples jealous? Probably. Is this fair?

To help us understand, listen to the experience the outstanding scripture scholar, Sister Barbara E. Reid, O.P., shares,

“At a funeral I recently attended, one of the daughters got up to give the eulogy. She began by saying, ‘I always knew that mom loved me best.’ I looked over at the faces of her two sisters and her brother, who seemed a bit disconcerted. The daughter went on to sketch out all the ways she knew she was her mom’s favorite. Then she turned to her older sister and asserted, ‘I always knew she was mom’s favorite,’ and then proceeded to tell all the reasons why. And so it went until she had recounted all the ways she knew her mom loved each of them best” (Abiding Word, p.76).

Does God really love Israel best? What about Jesus? In today’s Gospel, Jesus initially seems to think so. When he sends the twelve apostles to preach the Gospel, he says: “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
The early Christians struggled with this. Is the Gospel meant for all people (all the “Gentiles”) or is it meant only for the Jewish people (those who observe all the rules of the Torah)? St. Paul led the early Church to realize that God loves every nation and every person equally. Everyone is able to accept the Good News. The Gospel of Matthew will conclude with Jesus commanding the apostles to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

Every person is God’s favorite child. Remember what happened at Jesus’ baptism. “A voice came from the heavens, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased’” (Mark 1:11).

So, Jesus is the favorite child of God. Only Jesus?

No. Every Christian after being baptized is anointed and hears the words: “The God of power … now anoints you with the chrism of salvation, so that, united with his people, you may remain for ever a member of Christ who is Priest, Prophet, and King.”

Each one of us is the favorite child of the Lord God.

Reflection by Archbishop Jerome Hanus, OSB