23 January. Tuesday of Week 3

0 Comments
|

1st Reading: 2 Samuel 6:12-15, 17-19

David dances before the ark. The celebration ends with a sacred banquet

It was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, an with the sound of the trumpet.

They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord. When David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the offerings of well-being, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts, and distributed food among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people went back to their homes.

Gospel: Mark 3:31-35

Jesus declares:”whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister”

Then mother of Jesus and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.”

Gospel: Mark 3:31-35

Jesus calls whoever does God’s will his own brothers and sisters

Then his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside, they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him; and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers and sisters are outside, asking for you.” And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

Bible

Belonging to the smaller and wider family

Faithfully seeking to follow the will of God, according to today’s gospel, makes us family to Jesus. He identified the true disciple, not by by rank or position, talents or financial resources — only by fidelity in the day by day routine of life. Jesus asks us to undertake all we do as though in the context of a worldwide family, with my neighbour as sister or brother, mother or father to me.

This story seems to show Jesus as superceding traditional family ties in favour of the new unity of his followers with him. When his mother and others of his relatives come to him, one might expect him to drop everything else and devote full attention to them. Evidently, there are moments when we should be with our natural family circle and other moments when we turn outward to share our love with outsiders. Jesus gives example of both these moments. Here he is more conscious of his world family; later from the cross in his dying moments he provides for his mother Mary (John 19:25-27). Yet even this last concern for Mary is linked to his relationship with the entire church. Here as elsewhere in the gospels, Mary is representative of the church, the centre of a praying community (Acts 1:12-14).

God summons us at times to loud celebration, as when David, wearing only a liturgical loincloth came dancing before the Lord with abandon, when he and all the Israelites were bringing up the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem. The spontaneity of children can teach grown-ups that such is the Kingdom of God. Children like to be embraced in the close family circle; they can also run through the neighbourhood and wave at total strangers. They are teaching us the meaning of Jesus’ words as he looked out at the wide circle of people from all parts of the land: These are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me.

Join the Discussion

Keep the following in mind when writing a comment

  • Your comment must include your full name, and email. (email will not be published). You may be contacted by email, and it is possible you might be requested to supply your postal address to verify your identity.
  • Be respectful. Do not attack the writer. Take on the idea, not the messenger. Comments containing vulgarities, personalised insults, slanders or accusations shall be deleted.
  • Keep to the point. Deliberate digressions don't aid the discussion.
  • Including multiple links or coding in your comment will increase the chances of it being automati cally marked as spam.
  • Posts that are merely links to other sites or lengthy quotes may not be published.
  • Brevity. Like homilies keep you comments as short as possible; continued repetitions of a point over various threads will not be published.
  • The decision to publish or not publish a comment is made by the site editor. It will not be possible to reply individually to those whose comments are not published.