GOSPEL READING:
Matthew 12:46-5046 While he was still speaking to the people, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. 48 But he replied to the man who told him, "Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?" 49 And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother."
Meditation: Who do you love and cherish the most? God did
not intend for us to be alone, but to be with others. He gives us
many opportunities for developing relationships with family,
friends, neighbors, and co-workers. Why does Jesus seem to ignore
his own relatives when they pressed to see him? His love and
respect for his mother and his relatives is unquestionable. Jesus
never lost an opportunity to teach his disciples a spiritual
lesson and truth about the kingdom of God. On this occasion when
many gathered to hear Jesus he pointed to another higher reality
of relationships, namely our relationship with God and with those
who belong to God.
God offers the greatest of relationships
What is the essence of being a Christian? It is certainly more
than doctrine, precepts, and commandments. It is first and
foremost a relationship - a relationship of trust, affection,
commitment, loyalty, faithfulness, kindness, thoughtfulness,
compassion, mercy, helpfulness, encouragement, support, strength,
protection, and so many other qualities that bind people together
in mutual love and unity. God offers us the greatest of
relationships - union of heart, mind, and spirit with himself, the
very author and source of love (1 John 4:8,16).
God's love never fails, never forgets, never compromises, never
lies, never lets us down nor disappoints us. His love is
consistent, unwavering, unconditional, unrelenting and
unstoppable. There is no end to his love. Nothing in this world
can make him leave us, ignore us, or withhold from us his merciful
love and care (Romans 8:31-39). He will love us no matter what. It
is his nature to love. That is why he created us - to be united
with him and to share in his love (1 John 3:1).
God is a trinity of divine persons - one in being with the
eternal Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and a community of
undivided love. God made us in his image and likeness (Genesis
1:26,27) to be a people who are free to choose what is good,
loving, and just and to reject whatever is false and contrary to
his love and righteousness (moral goodness). That is why Jesus
challenged his followers, and even his own earthly relatives, to
recognize that God is the true source of all relationships. God
wants all of our relationships to be rooted in his love and
goodness.
The heavenly Father's offer of friendship and adoption
Jesus Christ is God's love incarnate - God's love made visible in
human flesh (1 John 4:9-10). That is why Jesus describes himself
as the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep and the
shepherd who seeks out the sheep who have strayed and lost their
way. God is like the father who yearns for his prodigal son to
return home and then throws a great party for his son when he has
a change of heart and comes back (Luke 15:11-32).
Jesus offered up his life on the cross for our sake, so that we
could be forgiven and restored to unity and friendship with God.
It is through Jesus that we become the adopted children of God -
his own sons and daughters. That is why Jesus told his disciples
that they would have many new friends and family relationships in
his kingdom. Whoever does the will of God is a friend of God and a
member of his family - his sons and daughters who have been
ransomed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Our brothers and sisters redeemed in the blood of Christ
An early Christian martyr once said that "a Christian's only
relatives are the saints" - namely those who have been redeemed by
the blood of Christ and adopted as sons and daughters of God.
Those who have been baptized into Jesus Christ and who live as his
disciples enter into a new family, a family of "saints" here on
earth and in heaven. Jesus changes the order of relationships and
shows that true kinship is not just a matter of flesh and blood.
Our adoption as sons and daughters of God transforms all of our
relationships and requires a new order of loyalty to God first and
to his kingdom of righteousness and peace. Do you want to grow in
love and friendship? Allow God's Holy Spirit to transform your
heart, mind, and will to enable you to love freely and generously
as he loves.
Heavenly Father, you bless us with many relationships and you invite us into the community of your sons and daughters who have been redeemed by your son, Jesus Christ. Help me to love my neighbor with charity, kindness, compassion, and mercy, just as you have loved me. In all of my relationships, and in all that I do and say, may I always seek to bring you honor and glory.
Psalm 85:1-8
1 LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You forgave the iniquity of your people; you pardoned all their sin. [Selah]
3 You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.
4 Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!
5 Will you be angry with us for ever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Show us your steadfast love, O LORD, and grant us your salvation.
8 Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints, to those who turn to him in their hearts.
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: My mother through faith, by by Gregory the Great (540-604 AD)
"If someone can become the brother of the Lord by coming to
faith, we must ask how one can become also his mother. We must
realize that the one who is Christ's brother and sister by
believing becomes his mother by preaching. It is as though one
brings forth the Lord and infuses him in the hearts of one's
listeners. And that person becomes his mother if through one's
voice the love of the Lord is generated in the mind of his
neighbor. (excerpt from FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES
3.2)
