Homily for 21 Jul 2015

21 Jul 2015

Brothers and sisters have the same parents; we all know that.  And, of course, we also know that you don’t necessarily need to be related by blood to be a brother or sister.  Right here, in the community of the faithful, we call each other “brothers and sisters,” even if we’re not related to the people sitting next to us. 

And we do that because we do see us as being related in Christ.  He binds us all together—in the Spirit of mutual respect, our common faith and hope.  And so, in that sense, we can almost see Jesus as an older brother.  You know, in some families, the spread of ages among siblings is such that the oldest ones are grown up and out of the house when the youngest are just being born.  And that older brother or sister can then almost seem like a parent.

But, even though Jesus is like a much older brother to us, he still calls us his “brothers and sisters.”  And brothers and sisters are called that because they have the same parents.  And so, Jesus is saying that God the Father is not only his Father, but God the Father is our Father as well.  Jesus puts a lot of emphasis on doing the will of the Father.  That’s what makes us “brothers and sisters” with Christ—our relationship with God the Father.

And that’s something we can often forget.  While Jesus is calling us to himself, he’s also helping us to get to know God the Father.  Remember that Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.”  Our relationship with Jesus our Brother and Lord is made even stronger when we grow in our relationship with God the Father.

Of course, we do that through Jesus.  And so, today, let’s ask the Lord Jesus, our Brother, to show us more of Our Father—especially the will of Our Father, who draws us together and makes us the family of God.