Towards the end of this weekend’s gospel, Matthew recounts that as Jesus was preaching someone said to him, “your mother, your sisters and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But, he said in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And, stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
One might take Jesus’ response as offensive and disrespectful to his mother Mary. But, in a deeper reflection, one would realize that those same seemingly disrespectful words are actually one of the most endearing, reverential comments that Jesus said about Mary. Who in the New Testament is the greatest model for us, apart from Jesus, to being docile to the Word of God? It is Mary, who listened attentively to the invitation of God to participate in his redemptive work, courageously gave her yes without hesitation and faithfully lived out her fiat until the end, observing it with total confidence, pondering in her heart “samballousa”, piecing together God’s will for her until the end. Looking at it at this angle, we can truly say that the seemingly dismissive words of Jesus are actually words of great praise to his mother for, after all, she was the first disciple of her son, the one who first heard the word of God and observed it.
Jesus doesn’t want us to be caught up on the fact that Mary is great simply because she bore him for nine months, nursed and reared him (don’t get me wrong, that in itself is a big honor and a singular privilege), but that same privilege was only possible because she was willing to listen to God’s invitation and stood faithful until the end. This is where her blessedness lies.
We, too, bear Christ in virtue of our baptism — we carried him in our wombs too because of our baptism. That’s a little odd picture for men. This reminds me of the words of St. Albert the Great, the great teacher of Thomas Aquinas, who said, “every day the Church gives birth to Christ Himself, through faith in the hearts of those who listen.” And, who is the Church? We .. us.. we are the church. Let’s read again St. Albert’s words, but substituting the word “church” with the pronoun “we”: “Every day we give birth to Christ Himself, through faith in the hearts of those who listen.” And, Jesus grows in us when we listen to God’s words and observe them. How is the person of Jesus growing in us? Do we listen wholeheartedly, or do we have the tendency to selectively listen to what we want to hear? Remember, Christ’s growing in us depends on our listening. – Fr. Cary