Liturgical day: Tuesday 25th in Ordinary Time
Gospel text (Lc 8,19-21): The mother and relatives of Jesus came to him, but they could not get to him because of the crowd. Someone told him, «Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and wish to meet you». Then Jesus answered, «My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it».
«My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it»
Fr. Xavier JAUSET i Clivillé
(Lleida, Spain)
Today, we can read a beautiful passage of the Gospel. Jesus is not showing any disrespect for his mother, inasmuch as She has been the first one to hear the Word of God, and He, who is the Word of God, was born from Her. At the same time She is who, most perfectly, has fulfilled God's will: «Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done onto me according to your word» (Lk 1:38), was Her answer to the Angel of the Annunciation.
Jesus tells us what we need to do to likewise pertain to his family: «those who hear...» (Lk 8:21) and to hear him we must get close to him, as his own relatives did, when they went where He was, but could not get to him because of the crowd. But, then, they tried to get closer. It might be convenient for us to ask ourselves if, to get closer to the Word of God, we do fight and try to overcome the obstacles we keep finding on the way. Do I devote, every day, a few minutes to reading, listening to or mulling over the Holy Scriptures? St. Thomas Aquinas reminds us «we must continuously meditate the Word of God (...); this meditation is a powerful help in our fight against sin».
And, finally, to abide by the Word. It is not enough to hear the Word; we must put it into action if we want to become God's relatives. We must put into practice what we are told! This is why it would perhaps be good to ask ourselves whether we only behave obediently when what we are asked just suits us well or is rather easy to do, or if, on the contrary, when it means giving up our comfort, our own prestige, our material things or whatever leisure time we may have at our disposal..., we use to place the Word between parenthesis, until some better time may come. Let us pray to the Virgin Mary that, as She did once, we may hear and abide by the Word of God, so that we shall, thus, be able to follow the path leading to eternal happiness.