Jul 24 - Tuesday 16th Week in OT

+ Today’s gospel passage must be understood in the depths of its meaning or all our seeming efforts at discipleship are in vain. God must come before everything and everyone, and that doing his will is not only the most important thing, but that it binds us together into one unified and coherent family, with God as our Father.

“Who are my mother and brothers and sisters?” Jesus asks – those who do the will of my Father, are mother, father, brother and sister to me.

This is astounding, this turns everything upside down – because if you ask 99% of the people on the planet, who in their heart of hearts is most important, they would say: FAMILY! FAMILY IS NUMBER ONE! I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR MY FAMILY – so, Jesus tells them, tells us, that if this is your real stance: IT IS WRONG!! it’s wrong! WRONG! WRONG!!!

Jesus came to turn everything upside down! GOD MUST BE FIRST – even when a crying baby wakes you in the morning – you must get up and tend to its needs BECAUSE OF GOD – NOT because of the baby. To recognize the baby as a newly born member of God’s overarching family, and even to respectfully treat it as a “little brother or sister” in the enormous and wonderful reality know as God’s Kingdom and Family-Forever – is seeing things rightly! And if this notion is assimilated and learned by the baby from the beginning – then he will most assuredly know who he is, and how important and loved he is by God first – and by earthly family second.

These few sentences in this obscure and brief gospel passage is quite explosive – as it should be! The gospel ought not make us feel cozy and warm – it is meant to show us the reality is for us what is backwards and upside down!

Today, think about this very apt analogy put forth by St. Francis of Assisi in so many words – “we must strive to walk with our feet firmly planted on the ceiling” – which means being absolutely trusting, and dependent on God which will be for us as easy as pie [my yoke is easy my burden is light]  – for the real spiritual gravitational pull in the universe is FAITH! coupled with ABSOLUTE TRUST AND DEPENDENCE ON GOD!

I will speak often of this great and powerful analogy!

It’s perfect!

Have yourself, now, a perfectly glorious upside down day!