Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 318

For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."

Our first reading concerns David, the ancestor of Joseph and Jesus; and the gospel speaks of that king's descendants who have serious misgivings about their royal son. 

You might remember that, following the arrival of the Ark of the Covenant in Jerusalem, David's wife Michal, the daughter of Saul, scolded him for making such a fool of himself in front of serving girls. He, in turn, banished her from his household and never spoke to her again. As Katherine Hepburn, in the role of Eleanor of Aquitaine, said in "The Lion in Winter," after one especially violent quarrel with King Henry II, "Every family has its ups and downs." 

David's descendants were no different; and the Lord had to deal with his people like everyone else. And so we can learn from him about family life. 

But, first we should understand: one of Saint Mark's dominant themes is the total surrender of Jesus to his mission as the Messiah. That obedience entails desolation. The price of our salvation is more than God can afford; it requires the Lord's utter abandonment of every kind of familial, social, or emotional support. He must be hated by religious authorities, abandoned by his disciples, distanced by his family, and despised by representatives in every level of government. He must die on a cross; that is, he must be lifted off the Earth as if we don't want him here. But neither is he accepted by heaven; and so we find him suspended in that place between, a place without life or meaning, and we hear his cry, "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?" 

He is recognized as the Son of God only after his death, and by the manner of his death. Nothing he said or done until now overcame his disciple's cowardice, his family's misgivings, or the world's hostility. That recognition finally came from an apparent enemy, the centurion who oversaw his execution. And it would be confirmed by the Father's intervention as he was raised on the third day, long after hope had gone elsewhere. 

This story of Jesus reminds us that our relations with our family must also begin in our obedience to God. Every child should learn that they are not the center of their mother's or father's existence. That position belongs to God. Their parents are assigned the responsibility of raising, protecting, and educating them by the Lord. And they in turn must accept the God who prepares them for his service. The family that prays together honors the Lord who is their head. 

Jesus left his family as he set out on that Gospel Road toward Jerusalem. They had to sacrifice the delight they felt in his presence for a higher good, which was the salvation of the world. Every family also learns to make sacrifices for the Lord. They might set attainable goals like the education and formation of their children; or they might not know why they must pay so dearly for apparently small profit. It's all in service of the Lord. 

Mary appears in this story, and something should be said about that. The Evangelist includes her among Jesus's family, anticipating his teaching: 

"Here are my mother and my brothers.

For whoever does the will of God

is my brother and sister and mother." 

Disciples of Jesus find more than a fellowship in the Church. We are family. We might not care much for one another; but, in fact, we belong intensely to one another. Our belonging is not voluntary. Can a leg walk away from the  body, or an eye see without a face around it? No one can walk away from the covenant God has made with us, nor can anyone claim an exclusive or singular relationship with God. Not even the Mother of God can distance herself from her family when she finds herself taken along to confront their unruly child.