07/05/2026

Have you ever been asked to rank a list of priorities? Maybe it was a practical exercise: a list of chores that all needed to be done, but there wasn't enough time for everything. Or a stack of bills when money was tight, forcing you to decide what had to be paid first. Perhaps it was part of a job application, where you were given a list of values and asked to arrange them in order of importance. Exercises like these can be surprisingly revealing. They force us to answer a simple but difficult question: What matters most?

Sometimes we make those priorities visible. A friend of mine has a tattoo that reads: God. Family. Friends. Others might choose a different order or different words: God. Family. Country. Or God. Family. Work. At the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame, the words "God, Country, Notre Dame" are famously displayed above one of the side entrances.

If we narrow the question to the people in our lives, it becomes even more personal. Who do you love? And then the harder question: Who do you love the most? That is precisely the question Jesus confronts in the Gospel.

"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me."

Those words can sound jarring. In a culture that rightly treasures family, Jesus appears to be demanding the impossible. Notice what He is actually saying. Jesus does not merely ask us to place His teachings first. He does not simply tell us to prioritize His values or His commandments. He insists that He Himself must occupy first place.

Coming from anyone else, such a demand would sound arrogant, even offensive. But Jesus is not simply another moral teacher asking for loyalty. He is the Son of God, the One through whom all things were made and for whom all things exist. He alone has the authority to ask for our absolute devotion. Yet His command is not rooted merely in His authority. It is also rooted in our flourishing. When our priorities are properly ordered, that very order enables every other priority to find its proper place.

A beautiful example of this truth is found in the life of Venerable Patrick Peyton. Born in Ireland in 1909, Patrick Peyton grew up on a small, rocky farm in a deeply faithful family. He was one of nine children raised by parents whose Catholic faith shaped everyday life. Like many young people, Patrick had periods of rebellion. He challenged authority, left school early, and struggled to discern his future. When his father's health declined, Patrick put aside thoughts of the priesthood to help support the family. Eventually, he and his brother immigrated to the United States, joining older siblings who had already settled there. Once there, Patrick again sensed God's call to the priesthood. He and his brother entered the Congregation of Holy Cross at Notre Dame, Indiana. The rest is history.

Father Peyton became known around the world as "The Rosary Priest." Through what became the Family Rosary Crusade, he organized enormous public rosary rallies across the globe. Hollywood celebrities lent their voices to his efforts, and modern media carried his message into millions of homes.

His famous slogan became known everywhere:
"The family that prays together stays together."
He also reminded the world, "A world at prayer is a world at peace." Those sayings have endured because they express a profound truth.

Father Peyton did not strengthen families by telling parents to love their children more than ever before. He strengthened families by encouraging them to place Jesus at the center of family life through prayer.
He understood that when Christ occupies first place, everyone else benefits.

There is an old piece of financial wisdom: "Take care of your pennies, and your dollars will take care of themselves." The point is simple. Attend faithfully to the small things, and the larger things often fall into place.

The same principle applies spiritually. Get your priorities straight, and the highest priority helps order everything beneath it.

Jesus is not asking us to love our parents or anyone else less. He is asking us to love Him first so that we can love everyone else as they deserve to be loved. It is not a competition. There is no need to apologize to Mom and Dad, to our spouse, to our children, to our friends, our country, or even to our beloved Notre Dame. Putting Jesus first does not diminish those loves. It purifies them. It strengthens them. It orders them rightly. And that is why Jesus insists on first place. Not because He wishes to take anyone's place in our hearts. But because only when He is first do all the other people we love find their proper place as well.

– Rev. James F. Hurlbert

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