The Call To Discipleship

Gospel

While Jesus was speaking to the crowds,
his mother and his brothers appeared outside,
wishing to speak with him.
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside,
asking to speak with you.”
But he said in reply to the one who told him,
“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?”
And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said,
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”

My Thoughts

Surely Jesus isn’t so caught up in his teaching and healing that he ignores his mother and relatives!!!

However, as I reflected on Jesus words and works as recorded in Matthew before and after this passage, (and read some commentaries), I realized that there was a different emphasis.

In Jesus teachings, parables and conversations surrounding today’s passage, there is an ongoing message of seeing, hearing AND living God’s will by becoming God’s presence to everyone, not just those in our familiar circles.

The demands of discipleship are above those of family. The Hebrew word for family is beth’ab, ‘father’s house’, and this indicates the patriarchal character of the Hebrew family. The sense of family solidarity was extremely close, since the individual depended entirely on his family for support and protection, and a life independent of the family was unthinkable. Wider than the Hebrew family was the tribe. In early times the “stranger” was any member of another tribe; in later times it meant anyone who was not an Israelite. Theoretically strangers were enemies: “Make no covenant with them and show them no mercy” (Deuteronomy 7:2); later the practice was less hostile. Jesus’ attitude to strangers was a cause of great scandal, even from the time of his first sermon: when he compared foreigners favourably with his own people “all in the synagogue were filled with rage” (Lk 4:28). This was to be the pattern throughout his public life.

So what is our call as Christians, followers and imitators of Christ? The Synod priority this year is to “Revitalize Catholic Culture and Identity. I believe it is the Holy Spirit’s call again to look and model our identity from Christ who radically changed the culture of his day.

Our care, concern, service and working for justice for and with others must reach beyond our familiar comfort zones to include all. The Gospel is a message of inclusivity rather than exclusivity or selectivity.

It is not enough to simply call ourselves followers of Jesus because we have been baptized. Baptism welcomes us into the Christian family. However, the call of Baptism is to recognize that we are made in God’s image, and to live into that sacred call by recognizing each and every human person as a child of God.

What does this look like in my life today? Certainly I am to be the best father, husband, son and brother that I can be to and with my family. But how I/we live, as family members should help us Become more of the caring, concerned persons working for justice in service to others also.

How do I/we live into the image of God in which we are each created? Like Fr. Joe says we must be agents of Harmony only then can we Revitalize Catholic Culture and Identity.

Have a blessed day.