[34] "Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. [35] For I have come to set a man 'against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; [36] and one's enemies will be those of his household.' [37] "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; [38] and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. [39] Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
(CCC 2232) Family ties are important but not absolute. Just as the child grows to maturity and human and spiritual autonomy, so his unique vocation which comes from God asserts itself more clearly and forcefully. Parents should respect this call and encourage their children to follow it. They must be convinced that the first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus: "He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Mt 10:37; cf. 16:25). (CCC 1506) Christ invites his disciples to follow him by taking up their cross in their turn (Cf. Mt 10:38). By following him they acquire a new outlook on illness and the sick. Jesus associates them with his own life of poverty and service. He makes them share in his ministry of compassion and healing: "So they went out and preached that men should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them" (Mk 6:12-13).
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