 |
||||||
While
Jesus was still 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.”
|
||||||
"It's
morning; I wake up, the taste of summer sweetness on my mind.
It's a clear day in this city. Let's go dance under
the
street lights. All the people in this world, let's come
together
more than ever. I can feel it, can you feel it?
Come on
over, down to the corner, my sisters and my brothers of every different
color. Can't you feel that sunshine telling you to hold
tight,
things will be alright; try to find a better life. Come on
over;
man, I know you wanna let yourself go. We may never find our reason to
shine, but here and now this is our time."
|
||||||
|
If
we read the above Scripture passage the wrong way, we
might think of it as
an
insult. Jesus seems
to ignore Mary and
his family. But if
we read the
passage as Jesus meant it, namely, with the thought of what was most
important
in his life after he had left his home, his answer rings true. His
ministry was the most
important thing in
his life. Yes,
parents and family are
still important, but everyone must find their own way at some time in
their
lives, and as Jesus saw it, his way was to preach about the obligation
of doing the will of his heavenly Father. Such was what he was
called to do, even as he respected his family.
"Doing the will of Jesus' heavenly Father" translates into living a better life. In Jesus' mind, this was his call, this was his "family." Rob Thomas seems to give the same directive in his song "Streetcorner Symphony," and what is encouraging about it is that in his mind anyway, it is quite possible: "This is our time," he sings. This is the time to make life a little better. This is the time when we can invite everyone down to the streetcorner of life, no matter what race, language or way of life, to be there for each other. "Try to find a better life," he sings, and in his opinion, we can! There are many ways to find a better life, of course. Jesus gives us constant direction in the Gospels. Religious leaders following Jesus and people of other religious thought suggest many directions we can go. One of the common foundations, though, is the one suggested by Rob Thomas, namely, the idea that we are all sisters and brothers. We are all related to one another, and therefore we are called to see that we are family, tied to one another by bonds that cannot be broken. As a consequence, we will love each other, accepting each other completely, even though we may not always agree. It leads us back to the Gospel thought--the will of Jesus' heavenly Father is nothing more than seeing that we are all mothers and brothers and sisters to each other. |
||||||
|
THOUGHT
What is the most important conclusion to the fact that we are all brothers and sisters to each other? PRAYER Good
and gracious
God, your Son
loved his human family, both his immediate family, and the family
of the human race, that is, all of his brothers and
sisters. He taught us about your will, giving us the direction to
treat
everyone we meet with the same love. Give us the grace to
live as
he directed. Be with us, we pray.
|
||||||
©2007 Capuchin
Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |