Tuesday of the Third week in Ordinary Time
Commentary of the day
Saint Augustine (354-430), Bishop of Hippo (North Africa) and Doctor of the Church
Sermon 25 on Saint Matthew; PL 46, 937 (trans. Breviary 21/11)
"Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother"
I beg you to listen to what the Lord had to say when he stretched out his hand towards his disciples: “Here are my mother and my brethren”; and, “whoever does the will of Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my mother”. Are we to take it from this that the Virgin Mary did not do the will of the Father, she who by faith believed, by faith conceived; she who was chosen to bring forth salvation on our behalf and who was by Christ created that Christ in her might be created ? Indeed and indeed she did the Father's will and it is a greater thing for Mary that she was Christ's disciple than that she was his mother. It is a happier thing be his disciple than to be his mother. Blessed then is Mary who bore her Lord in her body before she gave him birth…
Mary is holy. Mary is blessed. Yet the Church is greater than she is. What reason do I bring? Mary is part of the Church. She is a holy member of the Church; she is the holy member; she is the member above all members; hut she is still one member of the whole body... Brothers, listen very closely: you are members of Christ's body and you are the body of Christ (1Cor 12,27). And this is how you are what he said: “Here are my mother and my brothers.” But how does this prove you are Christ’s mother? He goes on: “Whoever hears and whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother and sister and mother.”
-St. Cyril of Jerusalem