Gospel Reading for September 24, 2024 – Luke 8: 19-21
VERY WRONG
The mother of Jesus and his brothers came to him but were unable to join him because of the crowd. He was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” He said to them in reply, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
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Those who think that Mary’s role was just to give birth to Jesus and after that, he didn’t need her, are VERY WRONG. God the Father sent his Son into the world to become part of the human race. We know how very important the role of a MOTHER is. It doesn’t stop at giving birth. The nurturing continues and does not stop – from breastfeeding unto death, as Mary did. Otherwise, God would have just sent Jesus like manna from heaven.
In the gospel of today, even when Jesus was going about his ministry, Mary came to see him. Mary was with him in Calvary and at the foot of cross. Michael Angelo’s PIETA showed the very pitiful Mary with the dead body of Jesus on her lap. She had to go through all the uncertainties and the sufferings of being the MOTHER of Christ, The Messiah, and she never complained about it, and this is precisely how Jesus described her in this gospel reading. If we can be like her in our faith in, and obedience to, God, then we can be family members of Jesus!
Mary, our Mother, we pray that those who wish you to not be honored by us, realize the deeper meaning of this message of Jesus!
