TENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR —YEAR B (READINGS: Gen 3:9-15 Ps 130 2 Cor 4: 13-5:1 Mk 3:20-35)
By Rev. Fr. Daniel Tetteh Tackie
My dear faithful in Christ, we begin the second half of the Ordinary Season. After the celebration of the greatest of all the feast (Easter) and reflecting on the events that won our salvation for us, we are plunged in hope, full of vitality because our Divine Master continues to lead the way. Today is the 10th Sunday of the Ordinary Season. For the next six months of Ordinary Time, we will be reading from the Gospel of Mark.
Today the reading from Genesis is chosen to balance the reading from Mark. It reminds us that God is always acting like a loving parent who cares about us, wanting to know where we are, what we are doing, and helping us to learn from the mistakes that we have made or trying to protect us from the dangerous things that may threaten our lives. The terrible thing about sin is the way it causes separation between God and his people. So much self-deceit, thoughtless choices or destructive life patterns are really to do with hiding ourselves from God.
It is not difficult to see a similar sort of pattern in the lives of our children as they set out to explore their world – how easy it is for them to get into trouble or danger or unhealthy habits while we as adults try to teach them or protect them from danger. The hardest thing of all is to realise that in spite of all our care, we could not make the difference we wanted to “save” our child. Try to read the Genesis story from this perspective and see if it sheds new light on the story for you.
So much of Jesus teaching is about showing people how to feel comfortable in God’s presence once again. Jesus is a great healer. St Paul reminds us of this when he talks about the ongoing spiritual healing that happens for those who live in Christ – even if their physical body is wearing out. A professional tentmaker himself, he uses the metaphor of physical death as merely a folding-up of the tent of one’s physical body so the spirit can live on, “at home” with God forever.
In the Gospel reading of this day, Jesus looks at those around him with the same kind of love and affection that he holds for his own family. He recognises that God’s love is beyond the ties of blood and genes. Spiritually we are all bound together as members of God’s great family, as close to Jesus as his own family. What distinguishes us as members of God’s family is the family likeness of doing God’s will – living the loving way.
We gain membership to the Family of God by virtue of our baptism. As Parents, reflect on this: In today’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us that in order to be members of his family we must do the will of God. Take time today to think and pray about the will of God for your life. Are you doing, or fulfilling, that will? How would you define the will of God for your family? What can you do to teach your children and guide your family to do the will of God?
The Lord Jesus asks in today’s Gospel, “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” (Mk 3: 33-35).
These words seem to be a distressing reproach to Mary and Jesus’s relatives. However, Jesus’s mother and relatives could not hear them, because they were still outside. These words were addressed to those who were sitting close to Jesus, inside the house, next to him. He was letting them know that for him, they were like his mother, like his brothers, like his closest family.
Dear in Christ! The Lord Jesus says to each of us: “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” We know that nobody in the history of humanity listened to the Word of God like Mary, in whom the Word became flesh. Also, no one ever fulfilled the will of God in a more perfect manner than Mary, the Handmaid of the Lord.
Mary, the Mother of our Lord, crushed the head of the ancient serpent. She told us to “do whatever Jesus tells you.” Today, let us ask Mary to help us, so that every day we can listen to and fulfill the will of God, and thus be more intimately united with the family of God. Amen
