Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?
Jesus had told his disciples that they must not prefer their own fathers and mothers to him (see Matthew 10:37). He was, then, practicing what he preached, demonstrating that the obligations to blood relations must take second place to the obligations to new spiritual family Jesus was establishing in his Kingdom.
“Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father
is my brother, and sister, and mother.”
Even in the case of the Mother of God, her natural prerogatives were necessarily subordinated to the priorities of the Kingdom. It is true that her motherhood extended beyond beyond that natural sense. Above all others, she opened herself completely to the will of the heavenly Father, saying, "May it be done unto me according to your word" (see Luke 1:38). Because of this Jesus could trust her to understand that what he was telling the crowds was intended as no slight to her, not from he who himself gave the commandment to honor father and mother. Yet though she understood as a disciple, it was probably still difficult for her as a mother. Even she, perhaps, had to learn to let go of what would otherwise be normal expectations of a mother for her son, so that her son would be available and free to bring his Kingdom to the world, even unto the cross.
Mary's preeminence in the Catholic faith was not based merely on the relationship of nature that she shared with her son. It was rather based on a supernatural reality that preceded, underlied, and sustained that relationship. Had she been the sort of person who insisted on her own rights, had she fought to keep her son to herself, had she herself turned away from following him even to the cross, she would not be the woman we celebrate today. In Mary we celebrate a profound work of the grace of God that made it possible for her, overshadowing her by God's own Spirit, to be the perfect example of true spiritual motherhood. This is the motherhood that does not merely raise children who do their best, self-actualize, get what they want, and then die. It is motherhood which raises children and mothers them unto life in the Kingdom, even in spite of the difficulty for both mother and child. It is a supernatural reality which only grace makes possible. We share in this reality, ourselves mothering the image of Jesus in others.
Our natural bonds and normal expectations tend to pursue us like the Egyptians pursued the Israelites once they were free. But the grace of our baptism has the power to drown our pursuers, to give us such complete victory that we never see them again. Like Mary we just need to trust in the grace of God and not turn back.
I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant;
horse and chariot he has cast into the sea.
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