At first glance, today’s gospel reading might seem a rebuke of Jesus’ mother but as in Lk 8:21, that would be far from the truth. The real message in both these passages is that for the disciple, biological relationship to Jesus is not as important as believing in Jesus and his message and living it out (hear the word of God and observe it). Doing this places us among Jesus’ family.

Ironically however, Jesus’ central message is that we are already his family, we are all God’s children, loved and cherished by God. And we are invited to love one another with that same unconditional love. But, as we know from experience and from the realities that surround us, this is not easy. We struggle with relating to all others as also God’s children, as our own brothers and sisters. Even within our own biological families we might have difficulty relating to others who don’t share our ideological or political viewpoint.

Let us pray for God’s grace this day that our hearts might be transformed, that we might indeed hear the word of God and observe it in our thoughts and actions.