Luke 8:19-21

Ezra 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20

Psalm 122:1-2, 3-4ab, 4cd-5

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, open my ears to hear your Word and Wisdom! Move my heart and will to put your holy word into practice. Overcome my stubbornness and resistance to your will. Your will is the path that leads to eternal life with you. I want to follow this path always.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The New Royal Family of Jesus: In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has been proclaiming the Gospel and the arrival of God’s Kingdom (Luke 4:43). And someone could think that they can be a subject in the kingdom but not part of the royal family. What Jesus proclaims to us today is that we are truly members of the royal family. When Jesus’ mother and cousins arrived, they weren’t able to get to Jesus because of the crowd. And when Jesus was told of his natural family’s arrival, he took the opportunity to teach an important dimension of the kingdom: “My mother and brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it” (Luke 8:21). When we were baptized, we were reborn into the royal family of God. “The anointing [at Baptism] with sacred chrism, perfumed oil consecrated by the bishop, signifies the gift of the Holy Spirit to the newly baptized, who has become a Christian, that is, one ‘anointed’ by the Holy Spirit, incorporated into Christ who is anointed priest, prophet, and king” (CCC, 1241).

2. The Rebuilding of the Temple: The First Reading narrates the dedication of the Temple and the celebration of the Passover in 515 B.C. From the beginning, the Book of Ezra has been leading up to this event. Just as the feast of Passover originally celebrated Israel’s flight from Egypt and entrance into the Promised Land, so also the feast now includes Israel’s departure from Babylon and return to the Promised Land. The Book of Ezra “opens by alluding to Jeremiah’s prophecy that the Babylonian exile would last seventy years (see Jeremiah 25:11), as well as to Cyrus’ defeat of Babylon in 539 BC and his subsequent decree enabling the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple (see Ezra 1:1-2). Upon the people’s return, they build an altar and offer burnt offerings (Ezra 3:2); this occurs before they have the foundation of the Temple laid (see Ezra 3:6)” (A Catholic Guide to the Old Testament, 235). The young people rejoiced when the foundation was laid, but the elderly priests and Levites began to weep. The Second Temple seems to pale in comparison to the First Temple built by Solomon. The Samaritans wanted to help in the rebuilding of the Temple, but were rejected. Because of this, they sought to put a stop to the Temple reconstruction and wrote to the Persian ruler (Ezra 4:7-16), informing him that the Judeans who returned were rebels against the Persian Empire. The Persian king sided with them initially, and work on the reconstruction of the Temple ceased for a time.

3. A New Family and a New Temple: In Ezra 5, we hear about the ministries of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, who were key in motivating the people to continue their efforts to rebuild the Temple. We will hear from these two prophets this week and next in the First Readings. Also key were Zerubbabel, a descendant of David who did not become king when the exiles returned, and Jeshua (or Joshua), the high priest. “After more back and forth, the Persian king Darius confirms Cyrus’ original decree, allowing the Jews to continue rebuilding the Temple (see 6:1-5). This leads to a celebration and dedication of the Temple, completed in the sixth year of Darius (Ezra 6:15) – that is, 515 BC” (A Catholic Guide to the Old Testament, 236). The First Temple of Solomon and the Second Temple were signs that pointed to the New Temple that Jesus would build. The New Temple was not built by human hands. It is the mystical body of Christ, the Church. The Gospel and the First Reading, then, both speak about the Church. We are brothers and sisters in Christ who seek to act upon the Word of God. We are spiritual stones of a New Temple that has Christ as its head and cornerstone (Matthew 21:42; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:4-7) and apostolic foundations (see Revelation 21:14). 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, thank you for welcoming me into your divine and royal family. You are so good to me, and I do not deserve such an honor. Help me to know each day my role and mission in this family.

Living the Word of God: How am I acting as a member of God’s royal family? Do I realize that sharing in Christ’s heavenly reign means renouncing and overcoming sin (see Romans 5:17-21 and Colossians 3:5)?