Here Are My Mother and My Brothers - Whoever Does the Will of God Is My Brother and Sister and Mother

January 28, 2014

Tuesday of 3rd Week in Ordinary Time

Memorial of St. Thomas Aquinas

2 Samuel 6: 12b-15, 17-19

Mark 3: 31-35

The Family of the Virgin by Martin de Vos (1593) Painting on Wood

“Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother (Mk. 3: 34-35)”.

This passage never ceases to challenge preachers. On the surface, Jesus appears to be repudiating His family. But, if we were to pause and ponder the passage for a moment, we would see that Jesus is attempting to move His hearers beyond the level of mere blood relationship to a spiritual one. He is expanding upon the concept of being created in the “image and likeness of God” our heavenly Father. In this context, we come to see the fraternal relationship within the Kingdom of the Father as a gift from God.

The Father was made known by the Son Whom Saint John the Evangelist describes as being “close to the Father’s heart” (Cf. Jn. 1:18). Because we are members of the Family of God, we find ourselves close to the heart of Christ.

We access the heart of Christ by “hearing the word of God and observing it” (Cf. Lk 11: 28). In this hearing and observing, we come to surrender our lives and will to the love and care of God. Taken in this light, Jesus is actually honoring His mother when you consider how she pondered the actions of God in her heart and surrendered herself totally to the divine will as it was revealed to her by the message of the angel Gabriel.

Jesus is challenging us to surrender to God's love for us and to place ourselves at the service of all whom He loves. The Church offers us a wonderful example of this act of abandonment in today’s first reading, where David danced before the Lord (Cf. 2 Sam. 6:14). David was filled joy at the nearness of the God of Israel. He could not control his exaltation. The king did in the midst of the people of Israel what John the Baptist did in the seclusion of Elizabeth’s womb. Rediscovering the joy of his youth, David danced, leaped and sang the praises of God.

In the presence of a loving God, David was set free from any slavish fear that had possessed him. The knowledge that he was under the watchful eye of the Almighty caused  him to be filled with a new hope that comes from being the object of divine blessing. Like David, we find ourselves in the presence of the Heavenly King Who tells us that by hearing His Word and pondering it in our hearts; we are united to Him by a bond closer than family lineage. It is in Him that we truly find ourselves. We are called to live authentically and consistently, loving and serving others as we have been loved and served. It is important that we show mercy and compassion to all those whom God loves, especially the poor, the sick and the marginalized.

Faith is a gift of grace. God Who is love, makes His dwelling within us and empowers those who accept Him to live in love--love of Him and love of others. This abiding in Christ and Christ in us is manifested to the world when we show love for one another. Love is the fruit of faith at the service of the Kingdom.

Love is the means whereby faith manifests its energy and power to transform not only the individual, but also the whole world. Loving compassion is the means whereby faith is activated and energized.

As believers we place ourselves at the service of those who suffer from despair at the lack of meaning of life, drug addiction, fear of abandonment in old age or sickness, marginalization or social discrimination. As believers we strive to build a world that respects human life and fosters personal growth and development.

Blessed John Paul II wrote: “God created man in his own image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26, 27): calling him to existence through love, he called him at the same time for love. God is love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8) and in himself he lives a mystery of personal loving communion. Creating the human race in his own image and continually keeping it in being, God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion. Love is therefore the fundamental and innate vocation of every human being” (Familiaris Consortio, 11).

Father Jerome Machar, OSCO