Posted on 07/20/2026 10:34:00 PM PDT by fidelis
Someone told him, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, asking to speak with you.” But he said in reply to the one who told him,“Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” And stretching out his hand toward his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. For whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” Matthew 12:47–50
Those unfamiliar with Catholic teaching and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary might misinterpret this passage as diminishing Jesus’ love for His mother or the singular role she holds in salvation history. Such an interpretation is gravely mistaken.
The purpose of Jesus’ words is to highlight the eternal reality of spiritual kinship in the Kingdom of Heaven that begins here on earth. In God’s Kingdom, our communion is not based on earthly bloodlines. While biological relationships—between parents, children, and siblings—may retain a unique bond in Heaven, the deepest and most enduring union is forged through shared obedience to the will of the Father.
This spiritual kinship does not begin in Heaven; it begins now. Through the grace of Baptism, we become sons and daughters of the Father and members of Christ’s Body. From that moment, we are united not by flesh, but by adoption—through faith and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Church, as God’s family on earth, is already a foretaste of the eternal communion we hope to enjoy in glory.
This truth is clearly expressed in the Lord’s Prayer. When Jesus taught us to address God as “Our Father,” the “our” does not refer to earthly relatives, but to all who live as God’s children, united by grace and fidelity to His will. On earth and in Heaven, it is filial obedience that binds us to the Eternal Son and forms the Mystical Body of Christ. In that union, we cry out together, “Father!”
Among those who have conformed themselves well to the will of God, none has equaled the perfection of the Blessed Virgin Mary. From the moment of her Immaculate Conception, she listened attentively to the Father’s voice and responded with unwavering fidelity. Her cooperation with grace was complete, so that the Angel Gabriel rightly called her “full of grace.” To be full is to lack nothing—to be wholly receptive to God’s will.
Therefore, when Jesus said, “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother,” His words applied supremely to His own mother. Far from diminishing her, they reveal the depth of her sanctity. She was not only His mother according to the flesh, but also His most perfect spiritual kin. In her, the ideal of divine sonship and discipleship is fulfilled to the highest degree.
Reflect today on your deep longing to belong. We often seek acceptance from family, friends, and those around us, but that longing is ultimately fulfilled only by grace, in the spiritual communion that flows from obedience to the Father’s will. Obeying God is a blessing, not a burden. It makes us who we are meant to be. The fruit of that obedience is the deepest peace and joy the heart can know: the joy of belonging to God’s eternal family.
Heavenly Father, You have called me not only to follow You, but to belong to You. May Your will be my delight. Form me in the image of Your Son, that I may live in the communion of love that unites all Your children. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, draw me deeper into the mystery of divine kinship. Father, I love You. Jesus, I trust in You.
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Today’s First Reading
From: Micah 7:14-15, 18-20
Prayer for Jerusalem
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[14] Shepherd thy people with thy staff, the flock of thy inheritance, who dwell alone in a forest in the midst of a garden land; let them feed in Báshan and Gilead as in the days of old. [15] As in the days when you came out of the land of Egypt I will show them marvellous things.
Hymn to the Lord
[18] Who is a God like thee, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger for ever because he delights in steadfast love. [19] He will again have compassion upon us, he will tread our iniquities under foot. Thou wilt cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. [20] Thou wilt show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as thou hast sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
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Commentary:
7:14-17. These verses also deal with hope in the future restoration, but it is now expressed in the form of a prayer to the Lord. He is asked for a return to the way things were in the early days of the chosen people--a repetition of wondrous works that will astound the Gentiles (vv. 16-17) and convince them of the power of the Lord (v. 16). The prayer also desires the Lord to be the only shepherd of his people (v. 14; cf. 5:3), who now occupy the whole of Palestine again, a land that is most fertile. Bashan and Gilead, on the eastern banks and highlands of the Jordan, were areas renowned for rich pasture-land.
7:18-20. The last three verses of the book, in a liturgical tone, celebrate the Lord’s steadfast love. Witnessing the works of the Lord (his pardoning of sins, and putting them out of his mind: vv. 18-19; his faithfulness to his promises, no matter what: v. 20), all that the believer can do is be grateful and live in awe: “Who is a God like thee?” (v. 18). Many of the terms used in this short hymn (remnant, inheritance, faithfulness, etc.) have come up earlier in the book and are being rehearsed again here. But we can appreciate their importance more if we remember the way Micah is echoed in the Benedictus of Zechariah in the New Testament. That hymn sums up very well the hope in the Messiah harbored by generation upon generation of the people of God, and when we reread it, it will help to revive our own hope in the definitive (second) coming of the Lord: “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people, and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old” (Lk 1:68-70).
From: Matthew 12:46-50
The True Kinsmen of Jesus
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[46] While He (Jesus) was still speaking to the people, behold, His mother and His brethren stood outside, asking to speak to Him. [48] But He replied to the man who told Him, "Who is My mother, and who are My brethren?" [49] And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, "Here are My mother and My brethren! [50] For whoever does the will of My Father in Heaven is My brother, and sister and mother."
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Commentary:
46-47. "Brethren": ancient Hebrew, Aramaic and other languages had no special words for different degrees of relationship, such as are found in more modern languages. In general, all those belonging to the same family, clan and even tribe were "brethren".
In the particular case we have here, we should bear in mind that Jesus had different kinds of relatives, in two groups--some on His mother's side, others on St. Joseph's. Matthew 13:55-56 mentions, as living in Nazareth, James, Joseph, Simon and Judas ("His brethren") and elsewhere there is reference to Jesus' "sisters" (cf. Matthew 6:3). But in Matthew 27:56 we are told that James and Joseph were sons of a Mary distinct from the Blessed Virgin, and that Simon and Judas were not brothers of James and Joseph, but seemingly children of a brother of St. Joseph.
Jesus, on the other hand, was known to everyone as "the son of Mary" (Mark 6:3) or "the carpenter's son" (Matthew 13:55).
The Church has always maintained as absolutely certain that Jesus had no brothers or sisters in the full meaning of the term: it is a dogma that Mary was ever-Virgin (cf. note on Matthew 1:25).
48-50. Jesus obviously loved His Mother and St. Joseph. He uses this episode to teach us that in His Kingdom human ties do not take precedence. In Luke 8:19 the same teaching is to be found. Jesus regards the person who does the will of His Heavenly Father as a member of His own family. Therefore, even though it means going against natural family feelings, a person should do just that when needs be in order to perform the mission the Father has entrusted to him (cf. Luke 2:49).
We can say that Jesus loved Mary more because of the bonds between them created by grace than because He was her son by natural generation: Mary's divine motherhood is the source of all our Lady's other prerogatives; but this very motherhood is, in its turn, the first and greatest of the graces with which Mary was endowed.
The Month of July is Dedicated to the Precious of Jesus
“They triumphed over the devil by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” (Revelation 12:11)
Pope Leo XIV’s prayer intention for the month of July, 2026:
For respect for human life
Let us pray for the respect and protection of human life in all its stages, recognizing it as a gift from God.
As a former student of a Catholic Grade School, I used to have little prayer cards just like that one, showing a prayer for the Morning Offering.
I would put one in my wallet right now, if they (or a similar replica) could be ordered online.
The Heavenly painting and the Offertory prayer, side by side.That’s what I would want to keep close to my heart at all times.
Try your local Catholic bookstore. They usually have lot of holy cards of all kinds and I’m sure they’d have this one. I love this prayer and say it every morning to dedicate my day to the Lord, and I encourage every one I can to do the same. I even carry around spare Morning Offering prayer cards like this to hand out.
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