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You might notice that we Christians often refer to each other as “brothers and sisters.” Even during the Mass, the priest exhorts the people, “Brethren (or brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries,” and “Pray, brethren (or brothers and sisters), that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God the almighty Father.”

This is not just a nice way to address each other. It expresses a reality — that we are actually brethren. We are actually brothers and sisters. We belong to the same family.

And this is not merely in the way that all human beings belong to the same family by virtue of being human. It is true that we share a common nature; we belong to one human race.

But there is a family bond that goes deeper than that and even deeper than the bonds we have with our close blood relatives. Through baptism, we are made part of God’s family. We are no longer merely creatures of God; we are made his sons and daughters. This is what makes us brothers and sisters of one another.

This is a kinship that is stronger than our natural family ties. And our natural family ties are deepened when we also share this supernatural kinship with our blood relatives. It is a kinship based on being children of the Father and on loving Jesus above all else. Jesus says in today’s 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.” This is not to say that we should not love our parents or our children. We should love them, and we should love Jesus more. And in loving Jesus more, together with our parents and children, our bond with them will only be deepened because it will be based on a shared love of Jesus above all else and a shared filial relationship with the Father. Not only will we be mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, but we will also be brothers and sisters in Christ and children of the Father.

When we share this supernatural bond, we can share with one another the joys and sufferings of Christian discipleship. We can rejoice together in what the Lord is doing in our lives, and we can support one another in carrying the cross.

The second half of the Gospel then describes and exhorts an attitude of hospitality toward those sent by God. Jesus says to his Apostles, “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.” Rewards will be given to those who receive prophets and righteous men, and to those who give a cup of cold water to the little ones who are disciples of Christ.

This kind of hospitality also makes sense in light of the reality that God is gathering a family. Sin and evil have scattered the human family and leave us broken and divided, and God is gathering a new family in Christ Jesus his Son. Our salvation is not about each one of us individually, in an isolated way, receiving salvation, but rather God gives us each salvation from sin and evil precisely by gathering us into his family. The way we treat one another, then, should be the way we would treat Christ. We should receive one another as we would receive Christ.

Christian disciples are sent out carrying a valuable treasure inside themselves: the disciples of Jesus have God himself dwelling within them. And they are sent out to share this treasure with others. They are sent out to invite others into the family of God. Those who receive them receive Jesus, and those who receive Jesus receive the Father.

This is how the Christian faith has spread all over the world throughout the centuries. People have encountered Christ in his disciples. When Peter went out to spread the Gospel of Jesus, it wasn’t just Peter that people encountered. They encountered Christ in Peter. When Paul went out, it wasn’t just Paul that people encountered, but Christ in Paul.

If you and I are to go out and bring Christ to others, to bring them into God’s family, we must resemble Christ and live according to the grace given to us.