The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
For Mary this was probably something similar to the finding of Jesus in the temple, in which she again had to accept that the business of his Father had priority over the normal demands of family life. Most people put into such a position would take it personally. But Mary most likely remained calm, reflected, and grew in deeper understanding of her son and his mission. We can even imagine that she found joy in the fact that Jesus trusted her enough to accept it, and perhaps to help his brethren to accept it as well.
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."
Hypothetically, who was closer to Jesus? Those relatives that thought that he was out of his mind and tried to silence him and bring him home? Or rather, the crowds, who, though not related, were open to learning from his message? It was the later who were acting more like true brothers and sisters of Jesus, true sons and daughters of his heavenly Father. It was faith that was to be the basis of a new international spiritual family in the form of the Church Jesus would establish. And this spiritual family, the kingdom of God on earth, had to take priority in the lives of its members, even over the natural good of family bonds. People needed to know that when the demands of family conflicted with what they were being asked to do by God it was God's will that they ought to choose. Thus Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple" (see Luke 14:26).
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."
We know that Mary was the mother of Jesus in a double sense, since she was always obedient to the will of God. She gave her fiat and then continued to give it throughout her life, not trying to find an alternative to the prophecy of Simeon about a sign that would be contradicted and a sword that would pierce her own side, and even remaining with Jesus as he endured the cross. From the crowds we can learn something about what it means to be a spiritual sibling of Jesus. But from his mother we have a masterclass in making Jesus and his Father's will the center of our lives. Her connection to Jesus was so close that she became known as the new ark of God. Therefore let us dance before the presence of the Lord, the presence that she continues to bring to us, with joy and abandon. Let us come together in the feast of our spiritual family, not "a loaf of bread, a cut of roast meat, and a raisin cake", but the Eucharist, the joint gift of Mary and Jesus to us.
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