Posted on 01/27/2026 8:09:27 AM PST by fidelis
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house. Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him. A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.” Mark 3:31–32
In Jesus’ time, family bloodlines were of great importance. They determined one’s identity as part of the chosen people of Israel, the descendants of Abraham. Being part of God’s covenantal family was understood primarily in terms of physical ancestry. Bloodlines also played a crucial role in determining rights to land ownership, which was tied to one’s family lineage. This connection between lineage and land had important theological significance, as the Promised Land was a visible sign of God’s covenant with Israel.
The lineage of two of the Twelve Tribes of Israel held particular significance. Members of the Tribe of Levi were uniquely chosen to serve as priests in the Temple. Additionally, the Messiah was prophesied to descend from the Tribe of Judah, specifically from the line of King David. This gave David’s lineage an elevated status. This significance is reflected in Matthew’s and Luke’s genealogies, which establishes Jesus’ legal and spiritual claim as the promised Messiah.
It is for these reasons that Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel surprised many. When Jesus’ mother and his brothers—meaning His cousins or other extended family—arrived at the house where He was teaching, they wanted to see Him. First, it should be noted that in Jewish culture, there was no specific word for “cousins” or “extended family,” so the terms “brothers” and “sisters” were used more broadly... Yet He takes that opportunity to offer a new teaching when He asks the crowd, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” Answering His own question, He pointed to those around Him, saying, “Here are my mother and my brothers...” (Mark 3:34–35).
Jesus was in no way diminishing the value of His blood relatives. In fact, the bond He shared with His mother went far deeper than DNA. Instead, He used the opportunity to expand the people’s natural familial bonds to include all those who were united spiritually. He taught that kinship in God’s family is not based on physical descent but on obedience to His will. This redefinition transformed their understanding of what it means to belong to God’s people, opening the door to new bonds of unity based in faith and grace.
Today, families remain the most important foundation of life. “The family is, so to speak, the domestic church” (Lumen Gentium, 11). The family is chosen by God as the primary community from which love, virtue, and faith are born, making them a community of love, participating in the unity of the Trinity. However, natural family bonds are now expanded by the supernatural bonds we share through the Blood of Christ, which unites all of us more deeply... As Christians, we are called to extend this familial love beyond our households, embracing all who do the will of God as brothers and sisters in faith.
Reflect today on the blessings and challenges you have within your own family. What is of paramount importance is that, within those natural bonds, we strive to move deeper, forging spiritual bonds that are eternal. Reflect also on your wider Christian community. Do you strive to build bonds of faith and charity with others? As you ponder Jesus’ words today, look at your natural family and beyond, giving thanks for those who do the will of God, and work to foster deep relationships grounded in the new Bloodline of Christ’s grace.
Most Holy Trinity, You are the source of perfect harmony and unity, sharing a love that is beyond all understanding. Draw me, and all people, into that unity of love. Bless my natural family on earth and unite us ever more deeply through Your grace. Bless also my spiritual family, my brothers and sisters in faith, united by the bonds we share in fulfilling Your holy will. Jesus, I trust in You.
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The Month of January is Dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus
“At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10-11)
Pope Leo XIV’s monthly prayer intention for the month of January, 2026:
For prayer with the Word of God
Let us pray that praying with the Word of God be nourishment for our lives and a source of hope in our communities, helping us to build a more fraternal and missionary Church.
Today’s First Reading
From: 2 Samuel 6:12b-15, 17-19
The Ark in Jerusalem (Continuation)
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[12b] So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; [13] and when those who bore the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. [14] And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. [15] So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.
[17] And they brought in the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place, inside the tent which David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD. [18] And when David had finished offering the burnt offerings and the peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the LORD of hosts, [19] and distributed among all the people, the whole multitude of Israel, both men and women, to each a cake of bread, a portion of meat, and a cake of raisins. Then all the people departed, each to his house.
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Commentary:
6:1-23. By moving the ark to Jerusalem from Baale, a town on the border with the Philistines (cf. 1 Sam 4:1-7:1), David is making the city the religious capital: from now on, it will be the Holy City blessed by the presence of the Lord. The narrative gives a good idea of the solemnity of the transfer (a liturgical procession of the kind celebrated in Psalm 132) and has a lot of doctrinal content.
The first stage in the transfer of the ark (vv. 1-11) was interrupted by the death of Uzzah, son of Abinadab. This amazing episode may be meant to show the predominance of one priestly family, that of Abiathar (cf. 1 Sam 22:20-23; 2 Sam 15:27-29), and the disappearance (for some inexplicable reason) of the descendants of Abinadab; but the main message is of course the respect and veneration due to the ark as the symbol of God’s presence among his people. Only those in charge of the ark may touch it. Even the king wonders whether it is right to bring it as far as Jerusalem, and it is the Lord himself who, by blessing the house of Obed-edom, signals that it should be brought the rest of the way.
The procession bringing the ark into the holy city is reported in detail in the second stage of the transfer (vv. 12-15). David himself, as king of Israel, assumes the functions of a priest and gives a lead in ritual jubilation. The Fathers have seen the ark as a figure of the Blessed Virgin; so the transfer of the ark is a symbol of Mary’s journey to visit her relative Elizabeth (cf. Lk 1:39-45), and David’s dance is a figure of the Baptist, who leaps with joy in the womb of his mother when Mary arrives with Jesus in her womb. "The prophet dances before the ark; but what is the ark if not [a symbol of] Holy Mary? The ark contained the tablets of the testament, Mary held in her body the heir to the testament; the ark carried the Law, Mary the Gospel; the ark held the voice of God, Mary the Word; inside and out, the ark shone with gold, the light of Mary’s virginity shines inside and out; the ark was decorated with earthly gold, Mary with the gold of heaven" (St Maximus of Turin, Sermons, 42, 5). See also the note on 1 Chronicles 15:1-24.
The last scene records Michal’s failure to understand David’s sincere devotion towards the ark (vv. 16-23); her rejection has political implications as regards the succession. David will have many sons who later dispute the throne, but none of them will be descendants of Saul. The sentence pronounced against Michal, David’s first wife, draws a line under the house of Saul.
From: Mark 3:31-35
The True Kinsmen of Jesus
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[31] And His (Jesus') mother and His brethren came; and standing outside they went to Him and called Him. [32] And a crowd was sitting about Him: and they said to Him, "Your mother and Your brethren are outside, asking for You." [33] And He replied, "Who are My mother and My brethren?" [34] And looking around on those who sat about Him, He said, "Here are My mother and My brethren! [35] Whoever does the will of God is My brother, and sister, and mother."
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Commentary:
31-35. In Aramaic, the language used by the Jews, the word "brethren" is a broad term indicating kinship: nephews, first cousins, and relatives in general are called `brethren' (for further explanation cf. note on Mark 6:1-3). "Jesus did not say this to disown His mother, but to show that she is worthy of honor not only account of having given birth to Jesus, but also because she has all the virtues" (Theophylact, "Enarratio In Evangelium Marci, in loc.").
Therefore, the Church reminds us that the Blessed Virgin "in the course of her Son's preaching received the words whereby, in extolling a kingdom beyond the concerns and ties of flesh and blood, He declared blessed those who heard and kept the word of God as she was faithfully doing" (Vatican II, "Lumen Gentium", 58).
Our Lord, then, is also telling us that if we follow Him we will share His life more intimately than if we were a member of His family. St. Thomas explains this by saying that Christ "had an eternal generation and a generation in time, and gave preference to the former. Those who do the will of the Father reach Him by Heavenly generation [...]. Everyone who does the will of the Father, that is to say, who obeys Him, is a brother or sister of Christ, because he is like Him who fulfilled the will of His Father. But he who not only obeys but converts others, begets Christ in them, and thus becomes like the Mother of Christ" ("Commentary on St. Matthew", 12, 49-50.)
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