It is a perilous thing, in this passing world, to place any love above Jesus Christ, who is Love Himself. Many fair things there are under the sun – family, our houses, the laughter of children, and the solace of deep companionship. These are good, and given as gifts by the Giver of all light. Yet they are but reflections, glimmering on the surface of the water, of the Great Light from Heaven.

Our hearts, being frail and easily beguiled, are prone to cling to the reflection, forgetting the Sun. But the Lord, who is both Shepherd and King, calls us to a higher love, a consuming fire that purifies all others. “If anyone comes to Me and hates not father and mother, wife and children…”-- so He speaks, not to destroy love, but to order it aright. For in such words there is no call to cruelty or coldness, but rather to a fierce allegiance, a loyalty that puts first things first. He who is before all must be above all, or else all loves grow crooked and dim.

To follow Him is to lay down even the fairest treasures of earth, not in bitterness, but in trust that they shall be returned transfigured. He does not take away to impoverish, but to sanctify. He wants to place every love, every joy, every sorrow, into its proper place beneath the crown of His lordship. Only then do the lesser loves shine with true glory, flowing as clear streams from the great Fountain. For when He is the first love, all else is redeemed; but when He is set aside, even good things become shadows and burdens.

So let the heart be steadfast. Let Him be the axis upon which all turns, the melody to which all harmonies must bend. For He alone is the End and the Way, the Flame imperishable, the Love that neither fades nor fails.

Yet the path of such love is not without its trials. For the heart must be weaned from many lesser loves, and this weaning is often bitter. The soul may cry out, fearing loss, misunderstanding the command as cruelty. But here lies the mystery: in surrender, we are not emptied, but filled. In placing Christ first – before family, before comfort, before even our own lives – we are not forsaking love, but entering into its truest form. For He is the source from which all loves spring, and without Him, they wither like leaves in a wind.

Consider the saints of old, who counted all things loss for the surpassing worth of knowing Him. They were not joyless, nor did they despise the earth, but they saw clearly. Their gaze was fixed beyond the hills, upon a country greater and a King more worthy than all earthly crowns. We too must learn this wisdom: that every good thing flows rightly from a heart anchored in Christ. To love Him first is not to love others less, but more purely, more freely, and with eternity in view. For only in His light do we see light and only in His love are all other loves made whole. Once we order our love properly, then we can finally say with St. Paul as we heard in the Second Reading today, “I (am), an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus.” And rejoice!