Tuesday of the
Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Exodus 14:21-15:1; Matthew 12:46-30)
Fr. Chuck Gallagher, S.J., initiated “Parish Renewal” over
thirty years ago as a way of involving the whole Church on the model of his
popular Marriage Encounter program. At
one point in the weekend retreat the pastor promotes parish unity by saying,
“Blood is thicker than water.” “How do we share the same blood?” the
parishioners will wonder. The pastor
then explains, “We all drink the same blood of Christ.”
Jesus emphasizes the unity of his disciples with him in
today’s gospel. He teaches that even
closer to him than his blood relatives stand those who accept God as
Father. They have taken to heart his
message and can be counted upon to assist the suffering with whom Jesus
especially identifies.
God has given us one another in the Church as friends who
make life enjoyable and relatives to support and help. Along with Jesus himself they give us cause to
thank and praise God.
