Tuesday, September 22, 2020 - 25th week of Ordinary Time - Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 8, 19-21 - Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!
In the human community there must be a blood tie or a common stock for us to be of the same family. In this Gospel, Jesus extends that family. His mother and brothers are "those who listen to the word of God and put it into practice. Thus, the Word of God taken to heart and made alive is the guarantee for becoming a member of his family as mother or brothers. The first to hear and receive the Word of God in her life was the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Jesus. Among those who sought to meet Jesus here were his mother and his so-called brothers; wanting to see Him and be seen by Him. Just because Jesus is a parent, it is natural to love his family. But there were so many people around him that his close relatives could not meet him. So it is not surprising that Jesus says that his real mother and brothers are the ones who listen and obey the word of God; Jesus himself being the incarnate Word of God.
For him, the people who hurry to see him and want to listen to him are his true relatives, filled with God's grace by listening to him and full of joy. But the Word of God is not only meant to be heard, but to be lived and put into practice. There is a way in which this Word of God is called "spiritual food" and Jesus himself said, when he was tempted by the devil in the desert, that "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God". He also said that the word of God, when it is lived, applied concretely in life, will bear fruit thirty times, a hundred times.
It is easy to become one with Jesus, to be his mother, to be his brother, according to the Gospel that the Church offers us here, listening and obeying the Word of God. It takes courage and determination to follow Jesus, a decision to accept Jesus as a close relative. The result is that one becomes one's own family. It is in the Church that this brotherhood is realized, for it is there that we become sons of God the Father, co-heirs of eternal happiness with His Son, Jesus Christ. This has been accomplished through the sacrament of Baptism, which has made us children of God and of the Church and heirs of eternal life. But it is not enough to be a close relative of Jesus, but this must be demonstrated by being a Christian in daily life because true parents and siblings care for each other, share everything, and love each other. Amen.
