Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother. his most intimate group.

Jesus shares his relationship with us, being Family with Jesus

We are the family of God and are brother and sister to Jesus when we try to do God’s will and to make God’s kingdom come.

 

 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊   

Micah 7:14-15, 18-20

 Shepherd your people with your staff,

Shepherd the flock of your inheritance that dwells alone in the scrub, in the midst of a fertile land. Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead  as in the days of old, in the days when you went out of Egypt.

Show us your wonders.   Who is a god like you, who takes away guilt and pardons crime for the remnant of his inheritance?

Who is like you whose anger does not last? For you delight in merciful forgiveness.

 Once again you will show us your loving kindness and trample on our wrongs, casting all our sins into the depths of the sea.

 Show faithfulness to Jacob, mercy to Abra­­ham, as you have sworn to our ancestors from the days of old.        

 

Ps 85:2-4, 5-6, 7-8

Lord, show us your mercy and love.

 

  ＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊   

Matthew 12:46-50

 While Jesus was still talking to the peo­ple, his mother and his brothers wanted to speak to him and they waited outside.   So someone said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are just outside; they want to speak with you.”

 Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look! Here are my mother and my brothers.   Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is for me brother, sister, or mother.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Being Family

Shoplifters is a 2018 Japanese movie that won the Palm d’Or at Cannes film festival. It tells the story of an “unnatural” family: a family of shoplifters who are not biologically related, but somehow have come together to live as family.

as one watches the dynamics within this family of shoplifters, one is struck by the genuine warmth, love, care, and concern the members have for one another. They seem far more natural and genuine a family than many biological families around.

Being family with Jesus is not conditioned by biological genealogy. With his declaration of who belongs to him as family, Jesus transcends the limits of time and space and opens for us an invitation to belong to him as intimately as his own mother was – with only one proviso: that we, like Mary, listen to the will of God and realize it in our lives. Such family ties are stronger than blood and flesh – they are formed in the heart of God.