Gospel MK 3:31-35
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
“Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you.”
But he said to them in reply,
“Who are my mother and my brothers?”
And 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.”
Reflection:
This is not an occasion of Jesus denying his family.
It is an opportunity for him to explain that true kinship comes from the sharing of mutual beliefs, goals and experiences.
We have all known situations where family members have not spoken to each other for years over some real or imagined slight. Blood lines do not necessarily translate into love lines.
What bonds people together as “family” and community are the day to day joys, challenges and heartaches encountered while pursuing their mutual objectives.
Rejoicing together over our successes brings us closer, while crying together over our failures and losses bonds us for life.
We have seen these truths lived out by those in the military who have gone into battle together, in the highs and lows experienced by sports teams, in the sharing between recovering alcoholics, in the building of Christ’s Kingdom in religious communities, and in ministries such as My Brother’s Keeper.