“Doing God’s Will so that we may be part of the Family Photo of Jesus!”

(Based on Ezr 6:7-8, 12b, 14-20 and Lk 8:19-21 – Tuesday of the 25th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 1)

We live in a generation where clicking photos and taking selfies have become quite popular!

And when photos or selfies of a group are clicked, there is often a crowding together of many people to come inside the photo frame…
… to be seen visible in the photo that is clicked.

To jostle together to get inside a photo-view or a photo-frame, can be fun…
…. and sometimes real tough too.

Today, Jesus, our Divine Master, is out to click a photo – to capture on frame all who belong to His Family…

There is a lot of jostling and shoving and pushing by people to sneak inside this photo frame.

But Jesus makes a clear demarcation: “Only those who hear the Word of God and do it are to be a part of this Family Photo frame!”

The Gospel of the Day depicts the incident where the mother and brothers of Jesus come to meet Him…
… and He declaring that His mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and do it in their lives”

Jesus loves to break new ground.

He loves to define new concepts.
He dares to look at things with innovation.
And here, Jesus revolutionizes and redefines the understanding of belonging to God’s Family.

In the Gospel of Luke 2:41-52, we have the incident of Jesus getting lost in the Temple of Jerusalem.

When Mother Mary questioned Him why He had done so, Jesus replies back: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

Jesus shows His priority and importance with respect to relationships and familial ties.

Relationship in a human family is understood in terms of connectivity of blood.

Relationship in Jesus’ family is to be understood in terms of connectivity of hearts.

Relationship in a human family is defined by association with a particular lineage and ancestry.

Relationship in Jesus’ Family is defined by association with hearing and doing God’s Will.

The true family has God as its Father and whose children are those “who hear the word of God and act on it.”

The true family in the Kingdom of God, is not first determined by bonds of earthly kinship, but rather by the bonds of spiritual kinship!

The true family is the family of God, the church, the body of Christ.

The early church father, St. Cyprian of Carthage, said quite rightly, “You cannot have God as your Father, if you do not have the Church as your Mother.”

Too often in times past, Christians, especially, we Catholics, have taken great pride in our faith.

But today perhaps we need to examine the basis and validity of this our claim and pride…

Am I proud to be a Catholic merely because I have been born and brought up with a Catholic upbringing…
… or can I be proud I am a Catholic because I know and live its teachings and traditions in my life?

Am I proud to be a Catholic merely because I attend regularly Sunday masses and fulfil some church obligations…
… or can I be proud that I am a Catholic because I have a deep faith in the Sacraments especially in the Eucharist?

It’s great to be called a follower of Christ…and enjoy privileges and benefits as a Christian…

But it’s a challenge to live His teachings and principles in our life, and truly be called His follower!

It’s nice to be called as a follower of Christ and be known in society as belonging to a “peaceful and nice” community…

But it’s a challenge to live the virtues of love and patience and follow God’s Will in our lives, and truly be a peaceful and nice Christian.

Yes, the Divine Master Jesus, is out to click a photo…to capture on frame all who belong to His Family…

Let us do God’s Will so that we may be part of His Family Photo!

Say Cheese?
Say Hallelujah!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
MAN’S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT – THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON – THE JUDGMENT OF CONSCIENCE

Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed.
In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right.

It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law. (CCC # 1778)