Tuesday, January 24, 2023

 Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of the Church

(Hebrews 10:1-10; Mark 3:31-35)

 An unforgettable scene in the movie Dances with Wolves shows the hero riding away with the Indians.  He was a calvary officer on the American frontier who was abandoned by the American army and adopted by a Sioux tribe.  He became one of them; they became his family.  In today’s gospel Jesus similarly chooses his family.

Jesus’ blood relatives come looking for him.  Believing him to be mentally disturbed, they want to take him back to Nazareth.  But he makes it known that his disciples are his “mother, brothers, and sisters.”  Jesus never says that any human is his father.  The only father he has, his true Father, is God in heaven.

Although not in the same way, God through Jesus is our Father as well.  He takes care of our needs as every one of us can attest.  In response we should thank Him by always doing His will.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of the Church

(Hebrews 10:1-10; Mark 3:31-35)

Some commentators see Jesus rejecting Mary and his relatives in this gospel passage.  But it seems fairer to say that he is only declaring God the priority of his life.  Francis de Sales did much the same as a young man.

Francis came from an aristocratic family.  After sending him to study law, his father expected him to serve as a local magistrate.  He even picked out a noblewoman to be Francis’ wife.  Francis, however, wanted to serve the Lord as a priest.  Through the intervention of the bishop of Geneva, he was ordained.  In time he became a marvel – converting Calvinists and sharing his possessions with the poor.  He served as bishop and wrote a much acclaimed treatise on spirituality.  Two centuries later he was declared a doctor of the Church. 

We all have preferences – baseball rather than football, CBS news rather than ABC, tea rather than coffee.  What Jesus asks of us is that we make God our first choice.  We place him above family, friends, even our own life.  He promises that we will never be disappointed when we do so.  We will find that we can become a better relative, friend, and person by making God our priority.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 10:1-10; Mark 3:31-35)

Catholics and Protestants have long tried to prove one another wrong on matters of doctrine.  The perpetual virginity of Mary is a particularly contentious debating point.  The Church has declared that Mary remained a virgin before, during, and after giving birth to Jesus.  Protestants often use today’s gospel passage as a proof text that Mary had other children besides Jesus.

The passage speaks of Jesus’ mother and brothers coming to see Jesus.  It shows Jesus gesturing at his disciples and calling them his “mother and (my) brothers.”  The scene leaves a sense of the remarkably close relationship Jesus has developed with those who follow him.  It may not be complimentary to Jesus’ family, but it does not show Jesus renouncing them either.

Biblical experts tell us that Mary’s virginity is not addressed in the New Testament.  They say that the names of Jesus’ brothers given later in Mark (James, Joses, Siman, and Judas) are plausibly the sons of the Mary who is pictured with Mary Magdalene and Salome at the cross with Jesus.  Thus, these “brothers” may very well have a more distant affiliation with Jesus than a sibling relationship.  In any case we are wise not to be querulous about the issue.  Rather, there is reason to rejoice in the possibility of joining with Jesus’ disciples as his “mother and (my) brothers.”

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Memorial of Saints Timothy and Titus, bishops

(II Timothy 1:1-8; Mark 3:31-35)

Although a few people have independently chosen to follow Christ, most Christians today are born into families that regularly went to church. These men and women may question the authenticity of their belief because they did not personally choose to be baptized. Nevertheless, when pressed, most are likely to say that they are grateful to have been raised as Christians. They reason that without developing early the habits of fearing God and going to church, they probably would have lost the way to all the satisfaction being a Christian gives.

Families are so important for faith that we sometimes think that families are of the highest value to faith. But they are not. In one passage Jesus tells a would-be disciple that he cannot go back to take leave of his family. In today’s gospel Jesus claims as his true family not his blood relations but those who pursue a spiritual relationship with God, his Father.

So then how should we regard our families? Certainly most families are owed a debt of gratitude for having provided us the physical means to grow up. Where families have fallen short of God’s ways, however – perhaps by teaching us to hate certain kinds of people or by telling us that we are deficient if we do not measure up to an exterior standard -- we must have the integrity to say, “That’s not me.”

Homilette for Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

(Hebrews 10:1-10; Mark 3:31-35)

The gospel passage today has troubled Catholics for centuries. First, it seems to indicate that Jesus had brothers and sisters when we hold that Mary remained a virgin all her life. And then it apparently shows Jesus rejecting his own family when we know the importance of family and the need to honor one’s parents. What’s up?

Adequate explanations are not difficult to understand. The evangelist Mark, from whose gospel the passage is taken, is evidently not aware of the tradition that Jesus’ mother is a virgin. He does not mention the birth of Jesus, but begins his gospel with John preaching in the desert and Jesus coming to him for baptism. In any case, the references to Jesus’ “brothers and sisters” here do not necessarily mean that they were born to Mary. Perhaps they are Jesus’ half-brothers and sisters – children of Joseph who was possibly widowed before committing himself to the care of Mary and Jesus. A more traditional explanation sees these visitors as distant relatives of Jesus since the Hebrew word (and its Greek equivalent) for brother is sometimes used to mean cousin or nephew. This account is given by St. Jerome, a Biblical scholar renowned for literal attentiveness.

It would be rash to say that Jesus rejects his blood relatives when he recognizes others as his spiritual family. We rightly see his mother, Mary, as the epitome of sanctity, and his “brother,” James, as the eventual leader of the Jerusalem Christian community. It is also critical that we see ourselves among Jesus’ “brothers and sisters.” This distinction entails, of course, that we do as he says -- practice the will of God.

homilette for January 29, 2008

Tuesday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

(Mark 3:31-35)

The gospel passage has troubled Catholics for centuries. First, it seems to indicate that Jesus had brothers and sisters when we hold that Mary remained a virgin all her life. And then it apparently shows Jesus rejecting his own family when we know the importance of family and the need to honor one’s parents. “What’s going on?” we might ask.

The answers to these charges are not that difficult to understand although they may not be completely satisfying. The evangelist Mark, from whose gospel the passage is taken, was evidently not aware of the tradition that Jesus’ mother was a virgin. He does not mention the birth of Jesus, but begins his gospel with John preaching in the desert and Jesus coming to him for baptism. Anyway, his references to Jesus’ “brothers and sisters” do not necessarily mean that they were full brothers and sisters. Perhaps they were half-brothers (the children of Joseph by another woman) or even cousins since the Hebrew word (and its Greek equivalent) for brother is sometimes used to mean cousin or nephew. The latter explanation is given by the biblical scholar St. Jerome who was not liberal in interpreting the Bible.

A few verses earlier the gospel actually says that Jesus’ relatives thought him to be “’out of his mind’” when they come looking for him. We can wonder what they would now think if they could hear Jesus’ reply to the news that they were seeking him. Perhaps they would have been even more convinced that he is mad. But we might also surmise that they finally perceive why he left them to preach about God.

No, Jesus is not out of his mind when he calls his mother, brothers and sisters (here certainly the terms are used figuratively) as those who “do(es) the will of God.” All who follow God’s ways belong to God’s family. Nevertheless, the gospel of Mark is gradually revealing how Jesus is uniquely God’s son. Toward the end of the gospel, a Roman centurion will declare this truth. After watching Jesus die an excruciating death without bitterness, he openly declares, “’Truly this man was the son of God!’” Therefore, we may conclude, we have to follow both Jesus’ his teaching and his example.