Word to the Wise
Tuesday, September 20, 2022 - Tuesday in the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
[Prov 21:1-6, 10-13 and 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." [Luke]
SEPTEMBER 20 ST. ANDREW KIM AND COMPANIONS, Korean martyrs
All three of the synoptic gospels report Jesus' comment about whom he considers to be his true family, i.e. those who hear his word and act on it. But the Gospel According to Mark, the earliest of the three in composition, gives a reason for the relatives coming to see Jesus [Mark 3:21]. They thought he was "out of his mind!" They were about to do an "intervention!"
The Gospel According to Mark is simpler and more stark in his depiction of the kind of rejection that Jesus experienced on all levels, even in his own family. The mention of Jesus' mother in Luke's account is especially noteworthy, given Luke's portrait of Mary as a kind of first disciple! [cf. Luke 2:19 and 51]
True discipleship transcends even family relationships, as Luke will make very clear at 14:26: "If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." In our own time, such single-minded loyalty is viewed with mixed feelings. We see it result in violence at times. Jesus warns that discipleship may result in family division. This need not happen, but it is a sad commentary on human weakness that religious faith can be the context for hard feelings and rejection.
The passage from the Gospel According to Luke can serve as a challenge to our priorities in faith. Family division over matters of faith should be avoided but ultimately the first and most important family is the family of Christ to which we belong if we hear his word and act on it. AMEN