Tuesday, September 22, 2015
25th Week in Ordinary Time
1st reading: Ezra 4.4-5; 6.1a, 6ad-8, 12b, 14-20
Gospel: Luke 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.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
The Chiong rape case in Cebu was the trial of the millennium that highlighted the grief of two mothers: one seeking justice for the abduction, rape and murder of her two daughters; the other insisting on the innocence of her son convicted as author of the crime. Intertwined with the stories of the victims and one of the convicts were the struggles of these two mothers crying for justice on behalf of their children. Mothers will always stand by their children.
Mary stood by her son too. Everyone had deserted Jesus but she was beside him until the end suffering in silence. But while the Jews who had Jesus crucified spared her, the detractors of our times are also attacking her. They use today’s Gospel reading as another dagger to pierce her heart. They claim that Jesus himself disowned her in today’s Gospel reading. They argue that Jesus could have simply acknowledged Mary as his mother. Instead he gave this curt reply: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
A closer reflection on Jesus’ reply, however, reveals the deep respect he had for his mother. Jesus was short of saying Mary’s glory went beyond the confines of biological motherhood. Over and above the realm of the biological was her spiritual life nourished by constant meditation and practice of the Word. She renewed her status as mother everyday by giving flesh to the Word through the practice of Jesus’ teachings. By saying that “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it”, Christ expressed his preference. He wanted all relatives to be related to him not just by blood but also by the practice of his teachings. In this regard Mary is our reliable guide.
Mary will not only help us become Jesus’ relatives through the practice of the Word. She is also a mother who will stand by us. “Woman, there is your son; son, there is your mother” was not a message of Jesus exclusive to John and Mother Mary. In that message Jesus turned over the whole of humanity to be her children. Mary readily gave her consent. As mother she will defend us even more than the two mothers in the Chung murder case. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM., MAPM., Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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