FR. GERALD MUSA HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 25TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: TRUE KINDRED OF JESUS
BY: FR GERALD M. MUSA
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 20 2022
Africans say blood is thicker than water, but Jesus tells us that a spiritual relationship is thicker than a blood (biological) relationship. When Jesus was told, “Your mother and your brethren are standing outside, desiring to see you.” He responded, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it” (Luke 8:20 21). Among Christians, there are several opinions (schools of thought) on who these brethren were. The first school of thought says those brethren were the maternal cousins of Jesus since the Greek word for ‘brother’ (adelphos) was commonly used to describe any biological affinity or kinship which includes distant relatives. The second school of thought says the brethren were the biological children of Mary. The third school of thought says they were children of Joseph from a previous marriage with a woman named Escha. Although the names of these brethren are mentioned in the Gospel of Mark (6:3), there is no ample evidence to prove those brethren were the biological sons of Mary or the literal brothers of Jesus. Therefore, we can confidently deduce that Mary had no other children apart from Jesus. If Mary had other children, it would have been unusual or unthinkable for Jesus to entrust his mother to John. Jesus widened the concept of family ties and makes us understand that spiritual ties are stronger than biological ties. Are we still clinging to the traditional idea of kinship or have we totally embraced Jesus’ teaching about spiritual kinship?
LUKE 8:19-21