It is very interesting - the first question that is asked in the Bible comes from Satan in the third chapter of Genesis as he asks Eve: “Did God really say, ‘You shall not eat from any of the trees in the garden’?” The first question God asks of man comes from the same chapter of Genesis, when God calls out to man and asks him: “Where are you?” We hear this question in our first reading today; it is a good question we can ask of ourselves, isn’t it? Where are we? Whereas Satan asked his question to manipulate Eve to doubt God’s goodness, God asked his question in order to maintain a relationship with both Adam and Eve. God’s asked that question because he could not see them: they were not where he he usually me them as they walked through the garden. But, this question is not just a matter of location; it is also a spiritual and psychological question. Where do we find ourselves today on our spiritual journey? Where are we in our relationship with God, in relationship to the call we receive from him?
The first reading helps us to look at where we are at in our relationship with God, whereas our Gospel helps us look at where we are at in our relationship with God and with our brothers and sisters. This Gospel is not about Jesus rejecting his mother Mary and his relatives, giving up on his biological family. Rather, it is about Jesus stating the intentions of his mission to proclaim God’s kingdom, about love of God and love of neighbor, rather than just isolating ourselves in our tribe or our family unit. Only the grace we receive from God himself can help us grow in our love of God and love of neighbor, as Jesus states: “whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” Our own journey of faith and our personal relationship with God is important, our family is important, but our neighbor is important to us as well, as we let the love of God enter our hearts and pass it on to others.
As a priest, I have had parishioners ask me about one of the phrases in today’s Gospel, about why blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is considered the unforgivable sin, and what implications that has for us. Perhaps we can understand this statement in the context of God’s love of us and of the love we are to have for our neighbor. If a person or a society turns against or blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, they cut themselves off from God’s love. Two weeks ago, we celebrated the solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The love of the Father, the sacrifice of the Son, and the work of the Holy Spirit in the world show us how to be in love as a community, how to work together as God presence in the world.The persons of the Trinity model for us how we should in God’s grace and God’s love as brothers and sisters in Christ.
You may recall that our Diocese has called us to work on three goals: one them is to be a more inviting and reconciling community. As a parish, we have tried to meet the needs of our community here at St Jude and to also reach out to the larger community around us. I look at the different ways our parish has been so busy this past week. Stacy and her crew of parishioners have been busy little bees getting ready for Vacation Bible School. Our children and youth are very important to us. We want all of them to feel loved and nourished here in our community. I’ve been celebrating mass at the Carmelite monastery every weekday this past week, and our Knights of Columbus have been working hard helping rebuild a gazebo and working in the monastery garden this weekend. It really has touched my heart to see how our parish is reaching out to the nuns in our Jackson community. In addition to going to our regular mass out at Whitfield state hospital every Friday, I have been at the prison three times this past week as well - two of the services we had between 40 and 50 men. I celebrated mass with them and gave them the anointing of the sick. And since we started our Spanish mass in January, we have about 60 to 80 at that mass every weekend. And I also help out with the Spanish mass in Hazlehurst twice a month. We have really spread our wings this past year. And we can be very proud as to how we are reaching out in so many ways, which to me is very much in the spirit of our Gospel today, to reach out to our brothers and sisters in our community, to see all of us as brothers and sisters in Christ. It is not always going to be easy. There are times when it will be tense and test our last nerves. But let us work as brothers and sisters in Christ together.
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