Big Deal

We read it in our scripture; we hear it at Mass; we say it in formal prayers.

We pretty much take it for granted.

Jesus is our brother, Mary is our mother, God is our father.

We’re all brothers and sisters.

We hear it so much, we might forget to be excited about what a big deal that is.

Growing up, I had parents, brothers, a sister, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.

Most are still around—spread around the country.

Plus I now have children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

That probably puts me in a fairly average position for family ties.

I also have a few close friends, including some who don't fit that average picture.

One is a friend I’ve seen nearly every day for over thirty years.

He’s an only child, and a lifelong bachelor,

And his only surviving relatives are a couple cousins in a distant state.

But he’s not lonely.

He maintains a good, active network of friends.

He and I often talk about things that affect our lives.

The news, the economy, politics, and even personal health and finance matters.

Some years ago, he casually mentioned in passing that I was like a brother to him.

As I was thinking about it later, I thought,

That’s really a big deal.

Even if we’re actually closer to some of our friends than to some of our family,

We still think of family as being the higher relationship.

So it's quite a compliment for someone to say they consider you family.

Most of us have some nuclear and extended family.

Large or small, good or bad.

None of us got to choose the family we were born into.

But we love them and maintain our ties with them.

And even if relationships are strained we still feel a commitment to them.

To paraphrase Robert Frost,

Family are those who, when you have to go to them, they have to take you in.

But there are many people who have no family ties.

The bonds have been broken by death, or strains.

They may have good solid relationships with close friends who are like family.

But those bonds can be broken too.

All of our relationships can be ended through forces that are beyond our control.

Any of us could someday find ourselves in that situation.

There’s only one exception.

One relationship where we ourselves have complete control.

And that’s the one that Jesus offers us in today’s Gospel.

He wants each of us to be an intimate member of his nuclear family.

There’s no catch, just one requirement—that we strive to do his Father’s will.

But that striving is completely within our power and completely within our control.

God has given us full control over the one most critical relationship in our lives.

That really is a big deal.

Tuesday 16th Week Ordinary Time

Mt 12:46-50      Read this Scripture @usccb.org