Mark 3:31-35

Hebrews 10:1-10

Psalm 40:2, 4ab, 7-8a, 10, 11

Mark 3:31-35

The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.

Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus 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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I seek to do your will always. Your will is my food. Your will is holy and will bring me to everlasting happiness and beatitude. Help me to discern your will each day in prayer so that I may act as your faithful child.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The New Family of God: In the Gospel, Jesus establishes the new family of God. No longer is membership to the people of God dictated by physical descent from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Becoming a member of God’s new family is accomplished through faith and baptism. In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus “is establishing a new family, the family of God, whose members are united around Jesus in a bond of love, familiarity, and loyalty far stronger than any blood relationships (see John 1:12; Romans 8:29; Ephesians 2:19; Hebrews 2:10-11). In doing so, he is not rejecting his earthly family; rather, he is establishing a new basis for their claim on him. That his brothers did eventually accept this new basis for kinship with Jesus is shown by the active presence in the early Church (Acts 1:14; 1 Corinthians 9:5; Galatians 1:19)” (Healy, The Gospel of Mark, 80). In fact, both James and Simon, who were cousins of Jesus, were the first two bishops of Jerusalem (see Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of Mary, 124-126). 

2. I Come to do Your Will: The Letter to the Hebrews contemplates the new priesthood of Jesus. The Law of Moses established the Levitical priesthood, but this was only a shadow of the good things to come. Each year the high priest would offer a bull and goat in sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. But these sacrifices were only a “remembrance of sins,” and did not effectively cleanse the people from their sins. Jesus’ sacrifice is different. It is an effective and obedient offering. Jesus assumed our human nature and was lovingly and freely obedient to the Father’s will. In this way, God took away the ineffectively sacrificial system of the Law of Moses to establish the salvation of the human race through the one all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ (see Healy, Hebrews, 199). Jesus’ sacrifice transforms our human nature from within; “it heals the self-will, pride, rebellion, and unbelief that have deeply wounded human nature ever since the fall” (Healy, Hebrews, 199).

3. Aquinas on Grace: Thomas Aquinas, whose memorial we celebrate today, has been called the “Angelic Doctor” and the “Common Doctor” of the Church. Through his writings and teachings, he influenced all of Christian doctrine and theology. One of his most important teachings was on divine grace. Meditating on Paul’s writings, Aquinas understood that the gift of grace, given to us in Baptism, makes us sharers in the divine nature. Grace regenerates us as children of God, makes us new creations in Christ, and makes the three Persons of the Triune God dwell in us. The Son of God, through grace, instills divine wisdom in us and enables us to contemplate and judge all things from a divine perspective. The Spirit of God, through grace, instills divine charity in us and enables us to love God and our brothers and sisters in a divine way. Empowered by divine grace and the infused virtues, we can merit eternal life through works of justice, love, charity, and mercy.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I thank you for bringing me into your divine family. Help me to be an obedient child of the Father. Direct my thoughts to think as you do. Pour out your Spirit into my heart and help me cry, Abba, Father.

Living the Word of God: What does it mean to me to be a part of God’s family? Do I see God as my Father, Mary as my mother, and Jesus as my brother? When I look at those around me at mass on Sunday, do I relate to them as my siblings? How can I live this mystery of the Family of God better?