REFLECTION: Who do you love and cherish the most? God did not intend for us to be alone, but to be with others. He gives us many opportunities for developing relationships with family, friends, neighbours, and co-workers. Why did Jesus, on this occasion, seem to ignore his own relatives when they pressed to see him? His love and respect for his mother and his relatives was unquestionable. Jesus never lost an opportunity to teach his disciples a spiritual lesson and truth about the kingdom of God. On this occasion when many gathered to hear Jesus he pointed to another higher reality of relationships, namely our relationship with God and with those who belong to God. What is the essence of being a Christian? It is certainly more than doctrine, precepts, and commandments. It is first and foremost a relationship - a relationship of trust, affection, commitment, loyalty, faithfulness, kindness, thoughtfulness, compassion, mercy, helpfulness, encouragement, support, strength, protection, and so many other qualities that bind people together in mutual love and unity. God offers us the greatest of relationships -union of heart, mind, and spirit with himself, the very author and source of love (1 John 4:8,16). Gods love never fails, never forgets, never compromises, never lies, never lets us down nor disappoints us. His love is consistent, unwavering, unconditional, and unstoppable. We may choose to separate ourselves from him, but nothing will make him ignore us, leave us, or treat us unkindly. He will pursue us, love us, and call us to return to him no matter what might stand in the way. It is his nature to love. That is why he created us - to be united with him and to share in his love and unity of persons (1 John 3:1). God is a trinity of persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -and a community of love. That is why Jesus challenged his followers and even his own earthly relatives to recognise that God is the true source of all relationships. God wants all of our relationships to be rooted in his love. Jesus is Gods love incarnate - Gods love made visible in human flesh (1 John 4:9-10). That is why Jesus describes himself as the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep and the shepherd who seeks out the sheep who have strayed and lost their way. God is like the father who yearns for his prodigal son to return home and then throws a great party for his son when he has a change of heart and comes back (Luke 15:11-32). Jesus offered up his life on the cross for our sake, so that we could be forgiven and restored to unity and friendship with God. It is through Jesus that we become the adopted children of God - his own sons and daughters. That is why Jesus told his disciples that they would have many new friends and family relationships in his kingdom. Whoever does the will of God is a friend of God and a member of his family - his sons and daughters who have been ransomed by the precious blood of Christ. An early Christian martyr once said that a Christians only relatives are the saints - namely those who have been redeemed by the blood of Christ and adopted as sons and daughters of God. Those who have been baptized into Jesus Christ and who live as his disciples enter into a new family, a family of saints here on earth and in heaven. Jesus changes the order of relationships and shows that true kinship is not just a matter of flesh and blood. Our adoption as sons and daughters of God transforms all of our relationships and requires a new order of loyalty to God first and to his kingdom of righteousness and peace. Do you want to grow in love and friendship? Allow Gods Holy Spirit to transform your heart, mind, and will to enable you to love freely and generously as he loves. ...Let us pray... Heavenly Father, you are the source of all true friendship and love. In all my relationships, may your love be my constant guide for choosing what is good and for rejecting what is contrary to your will. FAMILY TRANSPLANT Whoever does the will of God is brother and sister and mother to me. Mark 3:35 Jesus said that He came for division, to divide a family three against two (Lk 12:52). He meant that some family members would receive Him while others would reject Him, at least for a time. For those who love Jesus, love their families, and yet have been rejected within their families because of their love for Jesus, there is great pain. Yet Jesus offers the greatest consolation amidst this pain: by doing the will of God, we are adopted and transplanted into the family of God (Mk 3:35). We become a brother or sister of Jesus, a son or daughter of God the Father, united in love through the Holy Spirit. Praise be to the Holy Trinity forever! Our family meal is now the Mass, as we gather with the rest of our family at the table of the Lord and receive the Holy Eucharist. In the meantime, continue to love your biological family and pray for them. Your love and prayers may not seem to be having any impact. It might even seem to you that your love and prayers are making the situation worse. Keep persevering anyway. Day by day, the Lord is working behind the scenes (Mk 4:26ff) to unite your family in Him. Jesus is the stumbling Stone that smashes a family apart (Mt 21:44) and the Cornerstone upon Which the family is restored (Mt 21:42; Ps 118:22). Prayer: I have come to do Your will, O God (Heb 10:7). Promise: By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Heb 10:10 Praise: St. Angela was a creative visionary. Not only was she the first to found a teaching order of women in the Church, but she also founded the Churchs first secular institute. The Lord be with you!
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 02:53:20 +0000
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