GOSPEL OF THE DAY

From the Gospel according to Mark 3:31-35

The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.

Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.

A crowd seated around him told him,

“Your mother and your brothers and your sisters

are outside asking for you.”

But he said to them in reply,

“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.”

The Word of the Lord

 

Break my plans

Jesus does not reject His Mother or His family. That would be unthinkable in the One who perfectly fulfilled the commandment to honour father and mother. Jesus does not break bonds: He brings them to fullness. And He reveals what the true foundation of communion with Him is: not blood, not physical closeness, not natural ties, but loving obedience to the will of the Father. That is what makes us mother and brothers of Jesus. How much He loves us! Look at the intimacy to which He calls us. Does your heart not move?

Jesus does not call you to do things for Him. Jesus wants intimacy with you. He wants your heart, your love. And true love for God leads me to give Him my will. Faith in God is proven in detachment from my own will so that I may cling to His. Even when it hurts. Because more than health, for which so many pray, more than money, more even than people, we are attached to doing our own will. And that is, many times, the root of problems between spouses: the clash of opinions, the need to impose and dominate, the refusal to renounce in order to embrace the will of the other.

That is what Christ calls us to: to renounce, to obey, to love to the extreme. So that we may follow Him from Calvary to Glory! “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mark 8:34). The Lord does not tell us to be content with knowing His will, nor to admire it, nor even to preach it. He says: do it. Because the one who does it, that one enters the Kingdom of Heaven, already tasting here an anticipation of that heaven in married life. In the everyday, in the small things. In the hidden. In what no one applauds and only God sees: when I choose my spouse’s way over mine; when I renounce that comment I know will hurt; when I forgive again, even though it hurts; when I remain faithful to love while the world offers easier, more comfortable, and profoundly anti-Gospel exits.

The saints were not “good people.” The saints were men and women who stopped doing their own will to do God’s will. And there they found joy and happiness. There they found freedom. There they found true life.

 

Applied to Married Life

Jon: Patsy, those potatoes with chorizo were absolutely delicious!

Patsy: I’m so glad you enjoyed them!… I thought I wouldn’t have time because this morning I realised we didn’t have any chorizo.

Jon: Well, well, they were spectacular! Thank you, my love. I saw you dash off to the supermarket.

Patsy: (smiles) It was worth it just to see you enjoy something so simple so much.

Jon: You’re so beautiful. (they share a kiss)

Patsy: Oh, it’s getting late, let’s tidy up quickly — we’ve got to fetch the children from school.

Jon: Leave it, leave it, I’ll do it myself.

Patsy: Really?

Jon: Yes, yes! Go on, have a nap, I’ll clear up.

Patsy: Oh, my Jon, I love you!

Jon: I’m the one who should love you.

 

Mother,

You are the Mother of God not only because you bore Him in your womb, but because you listened, welcomed, and lived everything according to God’s will. Teach us, as little children, to love by obeying as you did. Praised be Jesus Christ!