“Here Are My Mother and My Brothers” by Melanie Rigney (@melanierigney)
Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. When he finished making these offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts. He then distributed among all the people, to each man and each woman in the entire multitude of Israel, a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake. (2 Samuel6:18-19)
Who is this king of glory? It is the Lord! (Psalm 24:8)
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| John Everett Millais [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
Looking around at those seated in the circle he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother." (Mark 3:34-25)
Piety
Jesus, I am humbled to be part of your family.
Study
We see it in politics, in business, even in ministry. As fair as people might try to be, it’s hard not to give special consideration to relatives when it comes to promotions and other opportunities. We’re a tribal lot, we human beings, and protecting the tribe is almost a primal instinct.
At an initial read of today’s Gospel, Jesus sounds harsh, inconsiderate of the woman who birthed him, who nursed him, who cleaned his scrapes, who as much as any other mother marveled at every stage of his development. Now a grown man, how could he ignore all that so publicly?
Ah, but he didn’t. Of course, Mary remained his mother, for who other than Jesus himself was a better example of a person doing the will of God? This is a joyful, hopeful passage! It’s not a matter of denying or shunning those we love and who love us, but the glorious gift that every single one of us has the opportunity to sit at His table. Jesus lays out a path for getting to the seat He has for us. All we need to do is obey.
Action
Spend some time contemplating this verse while in prayer with the Blessed Virgin Mary.
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