One of the shocking novelties, the Good News, that Jesus brings to us is that Christians through our baptism live inside the communion of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The communion of the Garden of Eden is reestablished in us through Christ and our baptism: a communion with God and with each other.
Jesus points this out in a shocking form in today’s Gospel. Today in our culture in the USA family relationships are important but only up to a certain point. But for a first century Jew, family was of primal importance throughout the entire life cycle. It would have been shocking for the folks to see Jesus set aside or postpone the needs of his family. Imagine, he ignores his own mother calling him! First, we see here that Jesus has his priorities well established according to the will of God. God comes first, above all other considerations. The evangelization, attending to the sick and those distanced from God comes first. His mother and family, while important, are to be considered later. Their needs do not interrupt, stop, or interfere with his relationship with the will of the Father or the evangelization process.
The second point of this shocking event is that Jesus places us all within one family, his family. No one, whether a baby, child, or adult, can live without a family. Our life flows through our family. What could be more important than being part of Jesus’ family and living in communion with God and others. Jesus steps into our lives to establish a personal, family relationship with each of us. This is our shocking joy as Christians.
Today’s Gospel calls us to live within the communion of love of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This requires a constant re-ordering of our priorities: placing the will of God in first place and living in peace and communion with others.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother.
Image: http://ttmucvusaigon.org/tin-tuc/english/daily-meditation—-here-are-my-mother-and-my-brothers—-/