Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Mass Readings

In today’s gospel we hear, “While Jesus was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers appeared outside, wishing to speak with him. Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Jesus is not rejecting the Blessed mother or the company that she is with, rather he is stating that those who do His will and become like him and in away like the Blessed Mother become like them. St. Maximilian Kolbe puts it like this “W + w = S. The capital W stands for God’s Will. The small w stands for our wills. When the two wills are united, they equal Sanctity.” For if we do God’s Will, then we will be holy as He and Our Lady are Holy.

Reflection by Br. Maximilian Burkhart, OSB