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Gospel: Luke 8: 19-21
The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him
but were unable to join him because of the crowd.
He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside
and they wish to see you.”
He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers
are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Saint Augustine once said, “It means more for Mary to have been Christ’s disciple than to have been his mother.”
If you ask any mother, they will tell you that the bond they share with their child is inseparable. They carried their child in their womb; they nursed their child at their breast; they raised, cared for, cried over, and sacrificed in immeasurable ways for them.
And, I’m sure, would do it a thousand times over.
Mary would’ve felt the same about Christ her son. That first Christmas night, as she gave birth to him in a stable and cradled him in her arms; as she fled urgently with him into Egypt; as she looked with fervor for him in Temple; as she stood before his Cross.
And yet, Mary’s relationship to Christ as his disciple is even more important than being his mother.
Here’s why.
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In today’s Gospel, Luke describes Jesus as standing inside someone’s home. The crowds are so large that Mary and his other relatives cannot get to him.
When someone notifies Jesus that they are outside, he says in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
If Mary were ever to become part of Christ’s divine family – the new, eternal family he came to save – then she, like all of us, would have to choose to follow him.
Of course, she does from the moment the angel appears to her, when she says, “Let it be done unto me according to your word.” Her docility to God is why we venerate her.
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You and I have the same opportunity as Mary – to be a brother or sister of Christ. The sole requirement is that we hear his Word… and act on it.
How might we as a Church – and a parish family – better experience this bond as brothers and sisters by acting on his word?
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Do what any other family member would do – love, pray for, visit, break bread, and welcome all as Christ.
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Image credits: (1) Adobe Stock (2) Diocese of Brooklyn (3) YMI