The Will of God
Todays Gospel reading is from Mark 3:31-35 “And his mother and his brothers came; and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting about him; and they said to him, ‘Your mother and your brothers are outside, asking for you.’ And he replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God is my brother, and sister, and mother.’ ” Reflecting on the Gospel this morning I am reminded of a conversation I had many years ago while I was still a very ignorant [of my Faith] new convert. An evangelical friend asked me why Catholics gave Mary so much honor? She pulled out her Bible and read to me from Mark 3:31-35. “See!”, my friend said, “Right there Jesus shows us that Mary is nobody special!” I didn’t have an answer. I knew that wasn’t right but I couldn’t explain why. All I could think was “Nobody special? She gave birth to God. And I don’t care who you are, that’s special in my book!”In many ways my conversion to Catholicism came through Mary. I had always been attracted to her and remember as a child kneeling to pray before a small statue of Mary that my father [who likes to collect things] had gotten at a garage sale. I don’t remember what I said in that prayer but I can’t help but think it played a part in my conversion. But back to that scene in Mark. Just what was Jesus saying there? Imagine the scenario for a moment. Here’s Jesus with this great crowd around him. They’ve seen him perform miracles and they are all trying to get close to Him. They don’t know who He is but they know He is someone very special. Next thing His mother arrives on the scene and someone says “Jesus your mom is here and she’s outside with your brethren waiting to speak to you.” Imagine what was going through people’s heads at this point. Don’t we all look at holy people and wonder about what kind of family they must have had? I mean let’s face it, it goes both ways. If your kids turn out right people tell you you did a great job, but if they don’t — well. . .
Now of course Jesus would have known what the crowd was thinking and what does he say? He says “Who are my mother and my brothers?”. He’s not saying “Hey, don’t think about her –think about Me!” No, what’s he’s doing is praising her and telling us all that we when we imitate her we also become part of His family; His brethren. The late great Pope John Paul II wrote that “Mary is the mother of Jesus according to the flesh, and she is also the first amongst all those who hear the word of God and keep it in its completeness.” [Redemptoris Mater]
Hearing the Word of God and keeping it. That’s it in a nutshell. Mary’s example and our mission. It’s simple really. What God asks of me is to say “yes”. To say “yes” every day to His will. And how do I know God’s will for my life? Well I don’t know about you but I sure don’t have to sit and contemplate it to figure it out. In fact, for me, sitting and contemplating it for too long could very likely be precisely not doing God’s will. Not when there are all these people around me whose very lives make it crystal clear to me what the will of God is in my life. And on that note I’m done. It’s time to wake my sleeping family and get going on breakfast. Pray for me - I’ll do the same for you.
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