Tuesday, 25th Week in Ordinary Time
“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”
There is in this passage a great and practical truth. It may very well be that we find ourselves closer to people who are not related to us than to our own flesh and blood. The deepest relationship of life is not merely a blood relationship. It is the relationship of mind to mind and heart to heart. True kinship develops when people have common aims, common principles, common interests and a common goal.
William Barclay has an interesting definition of the kingdom of God: “The kingdom of God is a society upon earth where God’s will is as perfectly done as it is in heaven.” Barclay elaborates by saying that it was Jesus’ supreme quality that he alone succeeded in fully achieving the identity of his will and the will of God. Therefore, all whose one aim in life is to make God’s will their will are the true kindred of Jesus.
All people are children of God, are they not? In a very real and precious sense that is true, because God loves saint and sinner. But, according to Barclay, the deepest form of this relationship is ethically conditioned. It is when we put our wills in line with God’s will by the help of the Holy Spirit that real kinship begins.
When we look up to God and say, “Do with me as you will,” we have found the way to true happiness and joy. Being a kin of Jesus is about doing God’s will in everything. It is about the things we think of, the words we say, the choices we make, the decisions we carry out, the actions we take, the places we go to, the things we value, the priorities we make…everything must be about doing God’s will. In more practical sense, it is manifested in the way we relate to every person we encounter…in the way we use our time, talents and resources…in the way we do our work and perform our tasks…in the way we use the internet, Facebook, social media…everything must be about doing God’s will.
Let us, therefore, pray that we may always hear the word of God and act on it. May we seek the will of God in everything. May we put our wills in line with God’s will. “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
Parokya ni Osong 