Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 8, 19-21

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.”

Your brothers

1) Your mother and your brothers. Perhaps this may seem a bit shocking to you at first and even make you doubt. Did Mary have other children? It is good to question this, as it means doing some research. In Jesus’ times blood relatives were referred to with the term “brothers”. That is why the gospel does not say “Mary and her children” but rather it says, “your mother and your brothers”. Remember in those days the term “cousins” was not used. Do some research and find out how wonderful the Bible is. September is Bible month. Make the most of it, get to know it better. Discover Mary and discover Her from within the Bible.

2) The will. To do God’s will, you must first listen to His voice within you and look at yourself through His eyes. There must be a familiarity with the Lord in order to comply with his will. Find Jesus, He is a person who is more alive than ever. He speaks to you and invites you to do great things with Him. Doing His will makes you free and joyful, God gives you happiness. A sign that you are doing His will is that you feel joyous and peaceful. This, of course, comes as a result of prayer.

3) Mary. This gospel does not question Mary, on the contrary, it praises Her. Who else is like Mary? There is no creature more closely united to God, she declared herself the Lord’s handmaid. At some point of the day, imagine her breastfeeding her son. What a lovely image! Imagine her day-to-day caring for baby Jesus or taking care of Jesus as a little boy together with Joseph. Then imagine Mary at the foot of the cross. If we reflect on her life, we would stand back in amazement. Let’s try hard, make our best effort to do God’s will. We are family – you help me, and I help you. Let’s pray for one another.  Please pray for me, I need your prayers. 

God bless you and keep you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Always remember that Heaven is our goal.