Hearing God’s
Word: A Gospel Reflection:
Before I begin my reflection on today’s Gospel, I would like
to take the time to review the Word of God itself from Luke.
The mother and
brothers of Jesus came to him, but they could not reach him because of the
crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and
your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.” But he said to them, “My mother and my
brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” Luke 18:19-21
Short and to the point huh?
Basically, Jesus is reminding people two things: it is our
responsibility as Disciples to spread the Gospel of the Lord to those who need
to hear it, and, secondly, it is our responsibility as followers of Christ to
LISTEN and ADHERE to God’s word in our life.
Often in my profession, I will be giving instruction or
discussing/listening to a situation only to be interrupted with another issue
that pertains to another separate person or group of people. Many of you have this very thing happen to
you as well and many times it is frustrating.
Jesus addresses the interruption by reminding the people (who were attempting
to do a good thing in their minds) that He is currently doing God’s work. Likewise, Jesus points out the obedience of
His mother and brothers when it comes to that work - God’s work.
Translate: I have a
family member who is notorious for thinking they know more than anyone
else. Not necessarily in their actions
but their words. For example, a few
months ago, a doctor suggested that such and such was wrong with their child
and that “this” was the way to alleviate the issue to which this family member’s
response was “I don’t think that doctor knows what he’s talking about.” Obviously,
because let’s face it, all those years of medical school and residency and
training are a waste right! Now, when
you are finished laughing because odds are you’ve seen this very thing, ask yourself
how often you have done in a similar situation with your doctor/lawyer/child’s teacher/boss/etc…..wait, more importantly, ask yourself how often you’ve done
it with God.
Often we pray and ask for something to happen in our lives
and then ignore God’s answer because it isn’t the one we wished to hear!? How often have we pulled away from other
people/family/friends because we think that we know better than they do, or we’ve
asked them for their opinion and they gave it to us and now we are
offended? Perhaps this is because we
didn’t truly accept what the answer meant to our life. When Jesus says, “my mother and brothers are
those who hear the word of God and do it” He is not dismissing the people who
told him, nor is he dismissing the importance of family, he is suggesting that
the strongest relationships are those founded in the word of God.
If we are ever to truly grow in our faith, we must accept
the fact that we do not know everything, that we are not the center of the
universe, and that our opinions/processes/viewpoints are not the only ones which
matter. We must have a glass that needs
to be filled, we must LISTEN and ADHERE to God’s word in our life, like Jesus’s
mother and brothers, we need to “hear the word of God and do it.”
Mr. Swann/Principal
OLMC