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Gospel: Mark 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.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Immediately following the resurrection of Christ, the Apostles embraced their mission to spread the Good News to the ends of the earth, starting in Jerusalem. As Peter says in the Acts of the Apostles:
“This man, you killed using lawless men to crucify him. But God raised him up!”
Their message was startling; literally life-changing.
While large numbers of people converted to Christianity, a significant number were also martyred for their faith, Saint Stephen being the first example.
The reasons were many.
One significant reason was the spread of false propaganda or mis-information by the powers that be. Christians were called “cannibals,” because they believed Christ was fully-present in the Eucharist, thus they “ate the flesh…and drank the blood” of their God.
They were called “incestuous,” because they referred to one another as “brothers and sisters,” a practice taught by Christ in today’s Gospel.
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“Who are my mother and my brothers?” Jesus asks the crowd. Looking around, he says, “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”
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Jesus was teaching his listeners that he came to establish a new family with bonds transcending flesh and blood.
In baptism, you and I become part of God’s family, the Church – a family whose relationships do not dissolve in death. We are equals, and should treat one another accordingly – never as inferior, as enemies, or as rivals, but as “brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Imagine the many people whom you might interact with today.
Whatever we do them – as brothers and sisters – we do to the Lord himself.
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Image credits: (1) Laying the Foundation, WordPress (2) AboutCatholics, WordPress (3) Pinterest