WHOEVER DOES THE WILL...
"Whoever does the will of my Father is my brother, and sister, and mother." We are full members of God's family. That alone should bring us great joy!
Thoughts about family life are inevitable after reading today's Scriptures. The prophet Micah speaks of God's people, a family with which God has had an age-old agreement, the covenant. Jesus Christ speaks of the ideal family in the Gospel of Matthew; God confirms as His family those who faithfully do God's will.
But the Gospel also brings out inherent difficulties with and in family life. Without this reminder, the ideal family could easily be out of reach or an airy ideal. No matter how happy they might look, how ideally they may think, all families have their defects and difficulties.
We could say that we need support and comfort of the family, but that the family also inevitably brings predicaments with it. Possibly all of this would be more acceptable to us if we did not idealize the family too much. Certainly we should have high standards and high hopes for our families, but along with these we need to realize that like every other element in human life, the family too has inherent difficulties. All family life calls for redemption and, on our part, the exercise of the qualities put before us in the Eucharist: compassion, forgiveness, self-denial, patience, love. These we can take to the bank!
In the responsorial psalm we acclaim, "Lord, show us your mercy and love" (Ps 85). This brings peace to us and to our homes, for peace is a blessing. May we have good health in mind and wholeness in the body, unity in the family and prosperity in our society. When we unite, we reconcile, heal and have great joy in our hearts!
Jesus said in the Gospel of John that we have a place in God's household (Jn 14:2). "Whoever does the will of my Father is my brother, and sister, and mother." We are full members of God's family. That alone should bring us great joy!