“When his relatives heard of this they set out to seize him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.”

When someone does not comply with the status quo, there are a number of ways that others can react. Oftentimes, the most successful people are those who do stray from the common path. If they choose to go into art or music or acting rather than the family business or law or medicine, their family may think they are crazy and lose confidence in them, or they can be supportive. Although I have always been lucky to have my family support the majority of decisions that I have made, including studying in and traveling around Europe this year, many of my friends face different circumstances and have to work harder to get what they want or go off on their own because they believe in themselves.

Jesus faced similarly difficult acceptance with his relatives. Here’s this guy touching lepers, spending time with the poor, and working on the Sabbath—something completely out of the norm. They didn’t completely understand him, and they said that he was out of his mind. He didn’t become the carpenter that his earthly father, Joseph, was. He became a preacher, a healer, and the Messiah. Obviously, there were people who had a difficult time accepting that, but it must have been difficult for Jesus when even his family thought that he was crazy.

When we do acts out of love for God, we may appear crazy…certainly different. It is definitely easier to conform to the social norm, but it is so much more rewarding to do acts out of love for God and for each other by praising God, helping the poor, and spending time with those who are a good influence on us and our potential. Many saints were likely considered crazy for the acts they did for God. May we all support those working toward the good for humanity and for faith. And may we, ourselves, do works for the love of God and our brothers.