Spreading the Word

January 29, 2019
Tuesday, 3rd Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Heb 10:1-10Gospel: Mark 3:31-35

Jesus’ mother and brothers came. As they stood outside, they sent someone to call him. The crowd sitting around Jesus told him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” He replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

And looking around at those who sat there he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

In the Communication Theory of Marshall McLuhan, “noise” (technical term for distraction) is fatal to message transmission. Thus distraction gets as much attention from communications experts as other elements of the communication process. Preachers, therefore, should not ignore distractions while they preach especially because the message they transmit is no less than God’s message. The most efficient way is to incorporate distractions to the homily as quickly as they arise. This requires some skills since distractions during the homily come “like a thief in the night”. No preacher can anticipate when and what type of distractions strikes in the course of preaching

As a preacher Jesus had to deal with interruptions of all sorts such as when a blind man shouted, “Son of David, have pity on me.” (Mk. 10:47). Devils also disturbed him as when they retorted: “Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are–the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24). In today’s gospel someone in the crowd shouted: “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.” How did Jesus deal with these distractions? Let’s analyze today’s Gospel reading.

The shout was not totally out of timing since Jesus had just preached about a divided household (see Mark 3:26). Still it was an interruption. Jesus skillfully re-engineered this distraction by using it as a tool to clarify that Mary, more than a mother, was a real follower; more than a follower, she was his partner in doing God’s will. At the ‘garden’ of the Annunciation Mary said, “Be it done unto me according to your word”; at the ‘garden’ of the Passion Jesus prayed, “Not my will but yours be done.” By clarifying the status of the Blessed Virgin Mary as doer of the Will of God, Jesus came close to saying anybody can be his relatives provided they do the Will of God as Mary did.

While preachers are called to learn from Jesus the art of re-engineering distractions, we are called to be good witnesses by being Christians in action. Anything less turns us into a big distraction fatal to the transmission of God’s message to our generation. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.

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