FR. GERALD MUSA HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 16TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II (1)
FR. GERALD MUSA HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 16TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: KINDRED OF JESUS
BY: FR GERALD M. MUSA
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY JULY 19 2022
Africans say blood is thicker than water, but Jesus tells us spiritual relationship is thicker than blood (biolo
FR. GERALD MUSA HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 16TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME CYCLE II
THEME: KINDRED OF JESUS
BY: FR GERALD M. MUSA
HOMILY FOR TUESDAY JULY 19 2022
Africans say blood is thicker than water, but Jesus tells us spiritual relationship is thicker than blood (biological) relationship. Jesus asked, “Who is my mother, and who are my brethren?” He said, “Here are my mother and my brethren. For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Among Christians, there are several opinions on who these brethren were. One school of thought says those brethren were the maternal cousins of Jesus, since the Greek word for ‘brother’ (adelphos) was commonly used to describe any biological affinity or kinship which includes distant relatives. A second school of thought says, the brethren were biological children of Mary. A third school of thought says they were children of Joseph from a previous marriage with a woman named Escha. Although the names of these brethren are mentioned in the Gospel of Mark (6:3), there is no ample evidence to prove those brethren were the biological sons of Mary or the literal brothers of Jesus.
Therefore, we can confidently deduce, Mary had no other children apart from Jesus. If Mary had other children, it would have been unusual or unthinkable for Jesus to entrust his mother to John. Jesus widened the concept of family ties and makes us understand that spiritual ties are stronger than biological ties. Are we still clinging to the traditional idea of kinship or have we totally embraced Jesus’ teaching about spiritual kinship?
MATTHEW 12:46-50