Daily Gospel Reflection for July 20, 2021

Join us as we reflect, ponder, and pray together inspired by today's Gospel.

When I was exploring Catholicism, one of the teachings that gave me pause was the role of the Blessed Mother. I grew up seeing her as a passive vessel for the Son of Man. Now, with deep devotion to Our Lady, I not only see her role in a more active light, but also with a complete acceptance and new understanding of what activity means.

Take this Gospel passage for example. It is often misinterpreted as a minimizing of the Mother. When Jesus asks, “Who is my mother?” He is not saying, “She is not my mother.” The question does not minimize the motherhood of our Our Lady but instead extends and expands it to all by making all not only hers through filial relationship but also participants in her motherhood. When Jesus says, “Here are my mother and my brothers,” the Holy Family extends its wellspring of love to “whoever does the will of my heavenly Father.” This extension not only includes relationship with Jesus and Mary but also with each other.

This Gospel passage serves as an echo of Saint John Paul II’s call to communion – that we belong to one another. How do we learn to live in this reality? We must build the habit of recognizing not only the face of Jesus in each person we meet, but to also recognize within ourselves a call to the motherhood of Mary, to shelter one another, to console, to nourish, and to love.

Ponder:

How am I being called to see the face of Jesus today? How am I being called into the motherhood of Mary today?

Pray:

May your Son give me the courage to live boldly His call to do the will of the Father, as I grow in the understanding of Christian brotherhood and sharing in your motherhood.