Homily for 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time, June 10, 2018

St. Marks Gospel gives us little tidbits, details, about Jesus and his family the other gospels do not give us. One such tidbit is in today's Gospel, where his mother and other family members think he is mad and they want to take him away.

Because my mind is a little twisted, and I'm always looking for the little oddity in any particular gospel, this incident caused me to wonder about the mental health of the Holy Family. Given this little incident in today's Gospel we might conclude that the Holy Family is, well, a little bit dysfunctional.

We all have our image of what the Holy Family was like. We have been taught from early on that our families should reflect that of the Holy Family.  When I first heard this, maybe when I was six or seven years old, I thought well my family does reflect the Holy Family, what's the problem? Three members in the Holy Family, three members in my family. Numeric equality is about the only equality my family had with the holy family––or is it? Maybe we all should take a look at our families and see how they compare with that of the Holy Family. We might find some amazing similarities.

Over the centuries, the artists has attempted to create images of Mary, Joseph and Jesus, and images of the three of them together as the Holy Family.  In creating these images they have also created images that are so perfect none of us could live up to them. So often they are portrayed in a way that they don't seem human, portrayed in a way that makes them feel very distant from me. I have no doubt that Mary and Joseph heard God's call in their lives, and acted heroically on that call.  I also have no doubt that they were very prayerful and faithful Jews. But what about the rest?

Mary and Joseph are the parents of an only child in a very hostile environment. And so when Jesus stays behind in the temple in Jerusalem when he was 12 years old, Mary and Joseph are frantic to find him. Of course they would be: frantic, frightened, concerned.  This would be obvious but it is something that we have to read into the gospel text.  They responded as any parent would when their child was lost, even if it's only for a few moments in a supermarket. When we allow ourselves to read in these emotions as we read the texts of scripture we can begin to realize that they understand what we are going through when we are panicked, frantic and scared to death.

In today's Gospel Jesus is informed that his mother and the family have come to see him. Saint Mark tells us that they came because they thought Jesus was out of his mind, that somehow he had gone mad. Well of course they did. Mary and Joseph probably presumed that Jesus would take up Joseph's trade as a carpenter, settle down and live a quiet life in Nazareth. And now he's preaching about the reign of God.

The problem for us when we read a gospel like this is to realize that Mary and Joseph didn't know what we know. We know the whole story, we know how it turns out. Mary and Joseph didn't know any of this, and in the Gospels we get hints but only hints. Mary of course, wants the best for her child and finds it maddening that he is putting himself in harms way. Her instinct is to protect him, naturally.

When I was a campus minister at the University of West Virginia, every year I would sit with one or two, maybe three students who were totally depressed because their parents wanted them to be doctors, lawyers or some outrageously insightful scientist; but they wanted to be an artist, or a musician, or an actor. It's a terrible act to smother or drown the dreams and hopes of a young person. To do so is to deaden the very creative spark of God's inspiration in their lives. Mary and Joseph had to learn this, and parents today need to learn this. Children are not our property, they are only on loan to us for a little while and the goal is to set them free, to stand on their own 2 feet so they can be responsive to the creative work of the Holy Spirit in them. For Mary and Joseph and for any parent it's often a leap of faith. Sometimes we want to be so protective, to be so sure that our kids will be okay we snuff the very life out of them.

I told my mom and dad that I was moving to Baltimore to become a Paulist priest. I told them that about two weeks before I was to leave. I never wanted to announce anything until I was certain it would come about. They were shocked, my mom said, "You're not even going to Church", at which I told her that I had been going for some time. I don't know if they thought I was mad or not but it took them a little while to get accustom to the idea. I probably should've given them more time now that I think about it. But, my mom and dad always said, as far back as I can remember, we don't care what you do as long as you're happy.

I remember shortly after my ordination, my mom said we really thought we wouldn't see you much anymore, and now we have found out that we have a whole new family, your Paulist brothers. This is what parenting and family are about, to expand the notion of family, that our families, and the family we call the church be inclusive and welcoming to all.