WEBVTT 00:00:00.800 --> 00:00:05.519 Have you ever heard someone say, It sounds like Jesus was disrespecting his mother? 00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:09.279 At first glance, today's gospel can almost sound that way. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:14.480 Jesus is told, Your mother and your brothers are outside asking to speak with you. 00:00:14.640 --> 00:00:17.440 And he responds, Who is my mother? 00:00:17.679 --> 00:00:19.359 Who are my brothers? 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:25.199 Now, if we stop reading there, we completely misunderstand what Jesus is doing. 00:00:25.519 --> 00:00:28.399 He's not diminishing the blessed mother. 00:00:28.960 --> 00:00:32.320 He's revealing the secret of her greatness. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:34.880 Notice what Jesus says next. 00:00:35.200 --> 00:00:43.759 Stretching out his hand towards his disciple, he says, Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother and sister and mother. 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:46.240 That's not a rejection of Mary. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:50.240 It is the greatest compliment he could possibly give her. 00:00:50.560 --> 00:00:51.200 Why? 00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:57.039 Well, because no human being ever did the will of the Father more perfectly than his mother, Mary. 00:00:57.520 --> 00:01:03.520 From the very first moment the angel Gabriel appeared, her entire life became one great yes. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.480 Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. 00:01:06.719 --> 00:01:09.200 Let it be done to me according to your word. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:12.799 Mary never stopped saying yes. 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:18.159 She said yes at Nazareth, she said yes when they had to flee into Egypt. 00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:21.359 She said yes during the hidden years of Jesus' life. 00:01:21.519 --> 00:01:24.719 She said yes at Cana when she directed the sermons. 00:01:24.959 --> 00:01:26.799 Do whatever he tells you. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:32.000 She said yes at the foot of the cross when every human reason for hope had disappeared. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:36.319 Her entire life was one continuous act of trust. 00:01:36.879 --> 00:01:41.200 Mary is not blessed primarily because she gave birth to Jesus. 00:01:41.519 --> 00:01:48.719 She's blessed because she believed, because she listened, she obeyed, she surrendered her entire life to God's will. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:56.000 In another gospel, a woman in the crowd cries out to Jesus, Blessed is the womb that carried you. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:02.959 Jesus responds, rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:05.439 Again, he's not correcting the woman. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:11.039 He's explaining what Mary, who Mary is and why she's blessed. 00:02:11.759 --> 00:02:14.400 The early church fathers love to reflect on this. 00:02:14.719 --> 00:02:21.680 Saint Augustine said that Mary conceived Christ in her heart through faith before she conceived him in her womb. 00:02:21.919 --> 00:02:27.599 In other words, before she carried Jesus physically, she first welcomed him spiritually. 00:02:27.919 --> 00:02:30.879 That's why she's the model of every disciple. 00:02:31.280 --> 00:02:38.080 Before Christ can be brought into the world through our words and actions, he must first dwell within our hearts. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:42.400 Mary is the first and greatest disciple, there's no doubt. 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:45.439 It's exactly what Jesus is teaching us today. 00:02:45.759 --> 00:02:51.199 The deepest relationship we can have with Christ is not biological, it is spiritual. 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:58.479 You and I will never be his biological relatives, but every one of us has become part of his family. 00:02:58.719 --> 00:02:59.199 How? 00:02:59.439 --> 00:03:02.000 Well, by doing the will of the Father. 00:03:02.479 --> 00:03:06.000 Think about what an extraordinary invitation that is. 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:13.919 Jesus is not merely inviting us to admire him from a distance, he's inviting us into his own family. 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:24.960 When we were baptized, we did not simply join an organization, we became sons and daughters of the Father, brothers and sisters of Christ, temples of the Holy Spirit. 00:03:25.280 --> 00:03:28.080 The church is not simply a place we attend. 00:03:28.400 --> 00:03:32.080 She is the family into which we have all been reborn. 00:03:33.120 --> 00:03:35.520 And that brings us to the first reading. 00:03:35.759 --> 00:03:39.680 The prophet Micah asks one of the most beautiful questions. 00:03:40.319 --> 00:03:42.000 Who is there like you? 00:03:42.479 --> 00:03:45.840 The God who removes guilt and pardons sins. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:49.599 Then he gives us one of the most beautiful images. 00:03:49.919 --> 00:03:54.000 You will cast into the depths of the sea all of our sins. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:56.319 Think about that. 00:03:56.560 --> 00:04:01.599 When something disappears into the deepest part of the ocean, no one can retrieve it. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.120 And that's how God wants us to think about his mercy. 00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:12.080 When we sincerely repent, he does not keep dragging our paths before us. 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:17.920 He forgives us, he restores us, and he begins again. 00:04:18.639 --> 00:04:23.600 And then Micah says something that should fill us with every sinner with hope. 00:04:23.920 --> 00:04:26.240 God delights in mercy. 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:31.279 He does not merely show mercy because he has to, he delights in it. 00:04:31.600 --> 00:04:34.480 He rejoices when his children return home. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:36.560 And that's the heart of the Father. 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:39.439 Perhaps many of us need to hear that today. 00:04:39.759 --> 00:04:46.079 Some people have confessed the same sin a hundred times, yet they still believe God is tired of forgiving them. 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:47.360 He is not. 00:04:48.160 --> 00:04:53.120 If your repentance is sincere, his mercy is always greater. 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:55.920 The cross has always proven that. 00:04:56.319 --> 00:05:01.199 Mary understood that mercy better than anyone because she knew the heart of her son. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:05.279 And she teaches us that holiness is not about living a perfect life. 00:05:05.519 --> 00:05:07.680 Holiness begins with saying yes. 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:16.079 Yes to God's will, yes to his mercy, yes to following Christ, even when the road leads to Calvary before it leads to the empty tomb. 00:05:16.879 --> 00:05:20.480 Today Jesus asks every single one of us the same question. 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:22.720 Who belongs to my family? 00:05:22.959 --> 00:05:25.600 And the question is not determined by our last name. 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.240 It's determined by our nationality. 00:05:28.560 --> 00:05:33.600 It's not determined by our nationality, it's not even determined by how many years we have attended church. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:36.399 No, it is determined by one thing. 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:38.720 Do we hear the Father's voice? 00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.879 Do we trust his mercy? 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:45.519 Are we willing, like Mary, to say yes to his will every single day? 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:49.680 If we do, then we're not merely followers of Jesus. 00:05:49.920 --> 00:05:52.079 We become members of his own family. 00:05:52.319 --> 00:06:03.600 And there, well, there's no greater privilege, no greater identity, no greater joy than to be able to say, Well, I, I belong to the family of Christ. 00:06:03.920 --> 00:06:04.560 Amen.