Word to the Wise
Sunday, June 10, 2018 - 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time - B [Corpus Christi 2012]
[Gen 3:9-15; 2 Cor 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35]His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him 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." [Mark]
One of the characteristics of the Gospel According to Mark is confrontation. Another feature is the way in which one story is "bracketed" around another so that two stories become one unit. In today's gospel scripture, Jesus engages in confrontation with his family and with the scribes. A larger theme is the contrast between the lowly masses (tax collectors, prostitutes, fishermen, tenant farmers) who accept him and the small "interest groups" that reject him: family, scribes, Pharisees, Herodians, Sadducees, chief priests and elders.
The family story is fascinating on its own. Jesus' preaching and ministry have begun to attract attention, not all of it positive. This will reflect on his family and clan. They wonder if he's really in his right mind and they plan to do what we would call an "intervention" to "seize him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind.'" When they arrive on the scene, the scene is set for Jesus' statement that blood kinship is not necessary to be related to him, What matters is to "do the will of God." It is important to note that Jesus does not reject his family. It is his family that rejects him. This same rejection is behind the statement about an "unforgivable sin" in the other story. If the scribes (or anyone else) reject Jesus' offer of forgiveness of sin and attribute his power to demons, then they have cut themselves off.
It can be uncomfortable to be confronted. We can become comfortable with our compromises on the level of faith and practice of it. Jesus summons us to conversion which may mean taking a deep look at the way we believe and live. The Sacrament of Reconciliation summons us to change our ways and not just to get guilt relief. G. K. Chesterton's famous comment about Christianity not ever being really tried comes to mind. If we want to be a member of Jesus' family, the will of God and the acceptance and living out of his teachings are the bottom line. It may take confrontation to make this happen, but the benefits are ultimate! AMEN