Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Tuesday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time, Cycle A - September 23, 2014

Tuesday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time
Saint Pio of Pietralcina
September 23, 2014      8:30am

 

Today we have an interesting statement from Jesus in the gospel.
Jesus expands the circle of his family to include anyone who “hears the Word of God and acts on it.”
So maybe a good question is: what does it mean or do for us to be part of Jesus’ family?

I got thinking that there are some very important gifts that come to us from our birth families.
And I think we can draw some spiritual parallels and see similar blessings or gifts from being part of Jesus’ family.

So first, we receive, very obviously, life itself from our birth family.
In a similar way, Jesus gives us life through our re-birth in Baptism – the life of God and opportunity to live in and with God.
Second, we receive love from our birth family and this love gives us the self-esteem and feeling of security that we need.
In a similar way, Jesus gives us God’s love and this brings us an absolute and lasting grounding of self-worth and safety.
Third, we receive nurturing from our birth family.
In a similar way, Jesus nurtures and strengthens us especially through the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the tasks and challenges of life.
And fourth, we receive guidance from our birth family.
And again, in a similar way, Jesus guides us through the gospels toward what is positive and good and in this way, he gives us a meaning and direction for our lives.

So, being part of the family of Jesus gives us gifts or blessings similar to what our blood family gives:

Life, love, nurturing, and guidance.