July 24, 2018Tuesday, 16th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Mi 7:14-20
Gospel: Mt 12:46-50
While Jesus was still talking to the people, his mother and his brothers wanted to speak to him and they waited outside. So someone said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are just outside; they want to speak with you.”Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is for me brother, sister, or mother.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
In today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is for me brother, sister, or mother.” This verse has three impor tant implications.
First: Mary is mother of Jesus both at the biological and the spiritual level. Normally, one does not need to do anything to perfect a blood relationship. A woman automatically becomes a biological mother as she delivers an infant from her womb to the world. Mary’s motherhood was more than biological. Her pregnancy and eventual delivery of Jesus to the world was the consequence of her commitment to God’s proposal delivered at the Annunciation by the angel. Her response to the proposal was, “Be it done unto me according to your Word.” Mary is Jesus’ mother both at the biological and the spiritual level.
Second: Not all relatives of Jesus did God’s Will. The Gospel of St. John tells us: “For his brothers did not believe in him.” (See John 7:3-5). (The terms ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ were also used by the Hebrews to refer to relatives). Their status as blood relatives did not earn for them the front seat ticket to salvation. Blood relationship with Jesus is immaterial for purposes of establishing relationship with God.
Third: We too can be as intimate to God as Mary was although we are not Jesus’ relatives. All we need to do is obey God’s will. We have nothing to lose, by the way, for the obedience God expects of us still allows us full use of our intelligence and will. The model to follow is the brand of obedience showcased by Jesus and Mary. Jesus asked the Father to take away the cup of suffering from him. But he ended this request with this proviso: “provided that it is done not according to my will but yours”. Mary asked many questions to the angel at the Annunciation like, “How can this be since I do not know man?” In the end, however, she said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to your Word.”
The foregoing three implications point to where obedience to God’s Will leads us. It elevates us higher to the level of the divine. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM . Email: [email protected].
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