The
church must suffer for speaking the truth, for pointing out sin, for uprooting
sin. No one wants to have a sore spot touched, and therefore a society with so
many sores twitches when someone has the courage to touch it and say: “You have
to treat that. You have to get rid of that. Believe in Christ. Be converted.” ―
Archbishop Oscar A. Romero, 1917 –1980: was a prelate of the
Catholic Church in El Salvador, who served as the fourth Archbishop of San
Salvador. He spoke out against poverty, social injustice, assassinations and
torture. In 1980, Romero was assassinated while offering Mass in the chapel of
the Hospital of Divine Providence.)
Gospel
Text: (MK 3:20-21)
Jesus came with his disciples into the
house.
Again the crowd gathered,
making it impossible for them even to
eat.
When his relatives heard of this they
set out to seize him,
for they said, "He is out of his
mind."
Today’s Gospel passage is only two
verses long. But what it lacks in length, it makes up for with punch! Jesus’
relatives “set out to seize Him, for they said, ‘He is out of His mind.’”
What were these relatives thinking,
and who exactly were they? We cannot imagine the Blessed Virgin Mary doing and
saying such things. But Jesus of course was from a large extended family, a
fact made clear by the Gospel narrative of the finding of the boy Jesus in the
Temple. Being related by blood to Jesus clearly was no guarantee of
understanding His identity.
Then again, most of those whom Jesus
chose to be His Apostles abandoned Jesus in disbelief during Holy Week, after
having followed Jesus for three years, witnessing His miracles and hearing His
preaching of the Gospel. So perhaps we need to cut His relatives some slack. We
might, then, realize that while you and I may not exactly be in “good” company
when we ignore Jesus’ Lordship over our lives, we at least can point to a
biblical precedent, and give thanks for Jesus’ patience with the failures of
even those closest to Him.
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