Bible
Study: Micah 7, 14 to 15 and 18 to 20 and Matthew 12, 46 to 50.
I guess if
there is any one issue Non-Catholics have with our devotion to Mary, it is the
fact that the Bible boldly mentions the existence of the brothers and sisters
of Jesus. Being that they like to address themselves as Bible-believing
Christians, they see the Bible as the summit; the first and last bus stop to
anything about the faith. If something is not in the bible, then it is not
worth believing and so long as the bible mentions anything at all, then it must
be swallowed hook, line and sinker even at its most literal meaning.
So, for
the bible to even mention that Jesus had brothers or sisters, or for the Gospel
of Luke chapter 2, verse 7 to say Mary gave birth to her “firstborn son” it
follows, for my Bible-believing brethren that Mary was not a virgin; that,
after the birth of Jesus, she and Joseph engaged in natural husband and wife
business that probably produced these persons referred to as the brothers and
sisters of Jesus. And if this is the case, Mary was just “used” by God like the
way we use an envelope to deliver a letter. After which, we dispose of it. So my
Bible-believing brethren consider the Rosary, the Scapular, the Marian Grotto and
other devotions to Mary as idolatry.
When they
try to convince us that we shall go to hell for practicing idolatry, we tend to
limit the argument to one question which is: Did Jesus actually have brothers
and sisters? We try to explain away those verses that mention Jesus’ brothers
and sisters using our African understanding of the concept of brother as not
necessarily one born of the same parents but even extended members of the
family. But as you may have noticed, this explanation never seems to satisfy
our Bible-believing brethren. It only sparks off greater argument.
It may
sound as a shock right now if I say this but let’s just face it. The answer to
the question is: Yes. Yes, Jesus had and still has brothers and sisters. The
issue is not whether or not Jesus has brothers and sisters, the real issue is:
“Who are those brothers and sisters of Jesus?” Let us reflect on what Jesus
himself said in today’s Gospel passage: “Who is my mother, and who are my
brothers? … For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and
sister and mother.” Matthew 12, 48 and 50.
Does it
strike you that Jesus did not deny the existence of his brothers and sisters?
He never said: “I don’t have brothers and sisters.” Instead, he said “Everyone,
every single human being, so long as he does the will of God is his brother and
sister and mother.” We do not like to think of ourselves as brothers and
sisters of Jesus because we like to assume that Jesus is somewhere far far
away, far from us, far from the hustle of bustle of everyday life. But the
truth is that, we are more than what we think we are! We are greater than we
can ever imagine. We are the brothers and sisters of Jesus.
If anyone
feels offended that Jesus had brothers and sisters and capitalizes on this to
disrespect the Mother of Jesus, it is that person’s business. For me, I do not
believe God “uses and dumps” people. I think he is more than some runaway
boyfriend. I think Mary is more than just an envelope. And even if my
Bible-believing brethren succeed in convincing me beyond doubt that mention is
made of brothers and sisters of Jesus, I like to show them today’s Gospel
passage and make them understand that I too am among those brothers and sisters
of Jesus.
If I am
Jesus’ brother, how dare you tell me that the honour I give to my mother is
idolatry? Yes, for the mere fact that I am doing the will of God as a
Christian, I cannot but see that Jesus is my brother and Mary is my mother. If
they have no respect for their own mothers, then I think I should be left alone
to pray my rosary, place my mother’s pictures in my room, hang a picture of her
in my neck and even bow to a statue of her. By the way, these are the same things
I do for my own mother who gave birth to me and I do not see them as worship.
So, why can’t I do them for the mother Jesus gave to me on the cross when he
said: “Son, behold your mother”. John 19, 27.
If you do
not believe Mary is your mother, then perhaps you also do not believe that you
are a brother or sister of Jesus. But if you accept that by doing God’s will (i.e.
hearing God’s word and living accordingly), you are Jesus’ brother or sister
then you must be very disrespectful of your own mother to consider her as an
envelope! There must be something wrong with you to take offence when you see
her statue inside the church or when you see me praying my Rosary.
Let us Pray:
Lord God, your prophet Micah
in today’s first reading assures me of your compassionate mercy, pardoning
iniquity, relenting in your anger and casting my sins into the depths of the
sea, I beg you to forgive me for not respecting my mother as much as I should.
Forgive me too for refusing to accept my identity as a brother or sister of
Jesus. Forgive me for often disgracing the family by my conduct. Amen
Good
morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless
you.
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