Jesus was not rejecting His mother and His relatives, but rather escalating the meaning of family.
He shows us that belonging to Him goes beyond bloodline or human ties; it is about a
relationship with God through obedience to His word. That is, whoever listens and obeys the
word of God is His brother and mother; this doesn’t mean only brothers and mother, but the
family as a whole. What strikes me is how He connects love and discipleship so closely with
listening and acting. It is not enough to hear the word of God; the true mark of belonging to
Christ is allowing that word to shape our choices, our priorities, and our daily lives.
When I reflect on this, I think of Mary herself. She is the perfect example of what Jesus is
saying. She heard God’s word through the angel Gabriel and acted on it with her “yes.” She lived
her whole life in attentive listening and faithful action, which is why she is both His mother by
flesh and His disciple by faith. In a way, Jesus is not diminishing her role, but affirming the very
reason she is most blessed: her obedience to God’s word. I remember when I was 8 years old,
about to have my first confession. On the very day of my confession, my mother and I were
going to the church; while walking from our house to the highway… she first saw some wild sort
of flowers (I don’t know what the name of that flower is), then she instructed me to pick up three
of its vines so that they would resemble the words ‘I love you’ which she told me that I should
subject it to our Blessed Mother. I realized I did that out of pure innocence and obedience to my
mother. All I know is that because she is my mother, I will do anything that she says, because I
love my mother, and she knows what is best for me. So, as the Lord God, He knows exactly what
is best for all of us, and if we follow His will, then as written in the Gospel, ‘My mother and my
brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.’
And this is the good news for us, we too can belong to this family, hopefully. We do not need to
be physically close to Jesus in history to be truly close to Him in spirit. Whenever we open our
hearts to the Gospel, whenever we forgive instead of resent, whenever we serve instead of
ignore, whenever we trust instead of despair, whenever we open our hearts and ears, only then
are we living as His brothers and sisters.
But this also challenges us. Sometimes we forget the value of listening, even to our colleagues
here inside this formation house; worse is when we are the ones being corrected. We feel
uncomfortable because we believe in ourselves that we are better than others, and we feel like we
don’t deserve to be taught because of our pride. The very essence of discipleship is missing,
which we are supposed to acquire. Hearing the word of God is not enough, even though we hear
it every day at Mass; perhaps we were sleeping, or physically present but mentally absent. The
important thing is that when we hear and act on it, it absolutely shapes our words, our choices,
our relationships; it remains only complete. Jesus is inviting us to let His word become flesh in
our lives, just as it became flesh in Mary’s womb.
So, how are we supposed to hear and obey the words of God if we fail to let go of things that
bring us far from Him? Do we simply listen and move on, or do I allow it to make me better than
I am today? If we can answer with our actions, our common sense and conscience would tell us.
Amen.