If we sometimes feel like there is conflict within us, it need not be surprising. We are each of us made up of two halves that as Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians, are very much at odds with one another. Very often I think we forget this about ourselves, I sometimes hear how many of our less than desirable behaviors are attributable to our fallen nature due to original sin, and there is certainly truth to that, but that is not the whole story. There is also the continual conflict that is a part of each one of us, because we are beings comprised of two diametrically opposed halves. One is physical (the flesh) the other is spiritual (our souls), and they have vastly different agendas, goals, and desires. Our fleshly selves are only concerned with the realities of the physical world, and how to achieve survival and physical comforts. Our spiritual selves see beyond both the physical constraints of our earthly bodies, and but also beyond the boundaries of the properties of this universe, and look into what lies beyond, into the realm of God and the eternity we have been promised.
In our first reading, as well as in our Gospel, there are some very revealing examples of this conflict within us, and how it sometimes manifests. Wanting to take care of those we love, is something that is at our core, and is both a natural and admirable thing to want to do. However, as our Lord points out, there are limits even to these things that seem so admirable in terms of their importance relative to serving our Lord first and foremost. Our Lord wants us to love those around us, and we are told specifically to honor our father and mother, and yet He says that those who look to what will be left behind when they commit to following Him, are not fit for the Kingdom of God. This may seem a bit contradictory at first, but it is more a matter of how we place our relationship with Him in relative importance to others we are close to. Our Lord is not telling us not to care about them, or to abandon them. He is telling us that what we actually seek in this life, will not be obtained through them, but only through Him, and that He as God, is the one to whom we owe our all. We love those around us, but it cannot compare with the love that we should direct toward our Lord who gave all of Himself for our salvation. Not even our parents, who brought us into this world physically, can compare in terms of what has been given each of us through Him. The reverse is also quite true, those who are parents know that their children are loved and are dear to them, yet they are called to love the Lord in an even deeper way. If we think about this, it is very natural, our Lord gave us our parents, He gave us our children, should we not show the source of such great gifts the love and respect appropriate? What is greater, the gift, or the one who gave it?
As we grow as people, it seems like we gain more in the ability to attune ourselves to our spiritual nature. We become more introspective, we have attained a point in life where we have experienced the physical realities, both good, and not so good, so that we now have the frame of reference to contrast them against the desires that still possess us for something that is beyond the physical, and that shows itself as more important relative to those experiences that are part of the more physical aspect of our nature. We seem to gain a truer sense of what is actually going to ultimately satisfy us, such as accepting on a deeper level the selfless love of God that He has always offered to each of us, perhaps gaining more detachment from focus on ourselves, the gradual elimination of over attachment to things of this earth, and the elevation of our striving for a oneness with our Creator. These things do not keep us from loving or caring for others, far from it, they do however place God where He belongs, as the first thought we have each day, as the most important One in our lives, and as the One that we love most of all through an intimacy that can only be achieved once some of our other competing priorities are let go. I think that it is when we get to this point, we truly begin to follow our Lord wherever He goes, and within ourselves we prepare a place where He can reside and rest his head.
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The Deacons Bench 
Hi Deacon Chuck, this time I have a question rather than a comment. I have always been puzzled by this portion of Paul’s letter to the Romans. It seems to be connected to what your homily is discussing.
Perhaps you can help unravel what Paul is trying to say here:
Romans 7:14-25
We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold into slavery to sin. What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I concur that the law is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that good does not dwell in me, that is, in my flesh. The willing is ready at hand, but doing the good is not. For I do not do the good I want, but I do the evil I do not want. Now if [I] do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. So, then, I discover the principle that when I want to do right, evil is at hand. For I take delight in the law of God, in my inner self, but I see in my members another principle at war with the law of my mind, taking me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Miserable one that I am! Who will deliver me from this mortal body? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, I myself, with my mind, serve the law of God but, with my flesh, the law of sin.
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