Jesus answered, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look!
Here are my mother and my brothers. Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister
and mother.”
Reflection:
Shoplifters is a 2018 Japanese movie that won the Palm d’Or at Cannes film festival. It tells the story of an
“unnatural” family: a family of shoplifters who are not biologically related, but somehow have come together
to live as family. As one watches the dynamics within this family of shoplifters, one is struck by the genuine
warmth, love, care, and concern the members have for one another. They seem far more natural and genuine
a family than many biological families around.
Being family with Jesus is not conditioned by biological genealogy. With his declaration of who belongs to him as family,
Jesus transcends the limits of time and space and opens for us an invitation to belong to him as intimately as his own
mother was—with only one proviso: that we, like Mary, listen to the will of God and realize it in our lives. Such family ties
are stronger than blood and flesh—they are formed in the heart of God.
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