again the family of Jesus - 3rd week tuesday 2018

The family members of Jesus are described by Mark as “outsiders”.  This had been noted by Mark already twice.  “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside . . .”  Last Saturday our gospel reading from the same gospel also noted that when Jesus went inside the house with his disciples, the family who were outside wanted to take hold of him because “he was out of his mind.”  The disciples who were with Jesus inside the house were the insiders and the family of Jesus together with the scribes and Pharisees who were outside the house were the “outsiders”. 

It is therefore clear that Mark is not describing a location here.  He is describing a kind of relationship these people have with Jesus.

Only an insider can understand that many times because of priorities, Jesus can miss a meal or two, but that does not mean that he is out of his mind.  Only an insider can understand that Jesus has to prioritize his time with his disciples rather than spend it with his relatives.  Only an insider who knows Jesus through and through can truly say that the power of Jesus can be coming from God and not from the devil as the Pharisees would later insist.  Only an outsider can throw harsh judgments on Jesus, only an outsider would think that Jesus because of his love to the point of sacrifice can interpret this as he is out of his mind, only an outsider can put him down, because outsiders can’t understand.  Only insiders do.

We ourselves experience this time and again.  Msgr. Amad Escanan died a week ago.  In one of his parish assignments he was for a time maligned by some parishioners, he was put down, he was depicted as an insensitive priest who would take advantage of people.  This is because at one point a benefactor in the United States who probably did not know what to do with their money wanted to show their appreciation for this priest and decided to give him a Nissan Patrol worth more than a million I believe.  Yes I can say that he can choose to accept or not to accept the gift.  I don’t want to make judgments but probably it was more complicated than that.  Nevertheless it came to pass.  And as expected there was an uproar at this seemingly wasteful use of resources.  And so his whole stay in that parish was not only marred but seemingly defined by that sad event in his life.  But you see that is not the total picture of the person.  When I entered the seminary in high school he was our spiritual director and he was always a gentle soul who taught me to love St. Therese of the Child Jesus, who would lend me his books, who introduced me to our very poor labandera for many years.  She was a single parent working for a big family.  Msgr Amad brought her with him from far away Culasi, Ajuy to the seminary so that she can have a permanent work to support her family.  I became a good friend of this labandera – Tya Panyang we called her.  So it’s not as if this priest was a greedy person who would kowtow to the rich so as to take advantage of them for his own personal needs.  People who really know him, the insiders, know him differently. I am not saying that since we are insiders we are to become blindly loyal.  No.  Insiders because they have open access can become who can give corrections in the same way that they also give affirmations
We experience these ourselves – as insiders to some, as outsiders to others.

Now going back to our gospel, the question is, in your knowledge of the Lord, in your love for Jesus, are we outsiders or insiders?  Can you say that you know Jesus thoroughly and therefore love him in a way that only an insider can?  Are we therefore obedient and loyal to his teachings?  As Mark said this is not just a matter of location as in I am always in the church, they are always outside the church.  No.  It’s about my relationship with the Lord, that is how deep do I know and love him.