Sts Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn and Paul Chŏng Ha-sang
Lk 8: 19-21
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” But he said to them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved
Jesus Belongs to All
Jesus shuns his blood relatives today. Why? Doesn’t the fourth commandment call on us to honor our fathers and mothers? There are two important things that Jesus is calling us to remember here. The first is that Jesus doesn’t belong exclusively to anyone. He exists for all of us, and his sharing of himself shouldn’t be limited to his biological family. He also is telling us to remember that in our families, while we are called to love each other and honor each other, we are not owned by, and we do not own, our families. Maybe we should ask ourselves, are we helping our parents, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters to be themselves, or are you trying to help them achieve our goals for them? Let us love one another for who they are and allow them to be who God made them to be.
—Alex Hale, SJ, is a Jesuit scholastic from the Midwest Province studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.
Prayer
God you have given us communities to belong to and you’ve given us our own individuality. May you teach us detachment from the images we have of those we love, so that they can be who you made them to be and we can love them more completely. Amen.
—Alex Hale, SJ