First reading Hebrews 10:1-10
Christ’s self-offering sanctifies us
Since the Law has no more than a reflection of these realities, and no finished picture of them, it is quite incapable of bringing the worshippers to perfection, with the same sacrifices repeatedly offered year after year. Otherwise, the offering of them would have stopped, because the worshippers, when they had been purified once, would have no awareness of sins. Instead of that, the sins are recalled year after year in the sacrifices. Bulls’ blood and goats’ blood are useless for taking away sins, and this is what he said, on coming into the world:
You who wanted no sacrifice or oblation,
prepared a body for me.
You took no pleasure in holocausts or sacrifices for sin;
then I said,
just as I was commanded in the scroll of the book,
‘God, here I am! I am coming to obey your will.’
Notice that he says first: You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to obey your will. He is abolishing the first sort to replace it with the second. And this will was for us to be made holy by the offering of his body made once and for all by Jesus Christ.
Responsorial Psalm 39(40):2,4,7-8,10,11
Here I am, Lord! I come to do your will.
I waited, I waited for the Lord
and he stooped down to me;
he heard my cry.
He put a new song into my mouth,
praise of our God.
You do not ask for sacrifice and offerings,
but an open ear.
You do not ask for holocaust and victim.
Instead, here am I.
Your justice I have proclaimed
in the great assembly.
My lips I have not sealed;
you know it, O Lord.
I have not hidden your justice in my heart
but declared your faithful help.
I have not hidden your love and your truth
from the great assembly.
Gospel Mark 3:31-35
Who are my mother and my brothers? Those that do the will of God
The mother and brothers of Jesus arrived and, standing outside, sent in a message asking for him. A crowd was sitting round him at the time the message was passed to him, ‘Your mother and brothers and sisters are outside asking for you.’ He replied, ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ And looking round at those sitting in a circle about him, he said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. Anyone who does the will of God, that person is my brother and sister and mother.’
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Belonging to God’s family
In today’s gospel, Jesus’ mother and brothers came looking for Him. He looked at the crowd around Him who listened to His teaching and identified them as His mother and brothers. By doing so, Jesus redefined and broadened the understanding of family and relationships. For Jesus, those who listen to Him and do God’s will are His true family.
We are members of Jesus’ family today. As we go about our daily routines, let us find comfort in the reality that we are God’s beloved sons and daughters and are also brothers and sisters to one another. Within this family, we seek to do God’s will, which is to live according to the gospel value of love, mercy, justice, honesty and peace.
Reflective question:
What is God’s will for me today?
What is God’s will for me today?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year A” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
