Lockdown and Gospel -- Day 14, January 23 (Saturday of the second week of Ordinary time)

(How does today’s Gospel speak to me during this lockdown? Allow me to share a humble reflection.)

When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.” (Mark 3:21)

The Greek expression translated here as “his family” includes Jesus’s relatives and members of his village. What is it they’ve heard that causes their reaction? They’ve become aware of his dazzling popularity, but also of the radicalism of its teaching and his controversies with religious leaders. Their own reputation is at stake. They obviously don’t understand him. So they try to bring him back to his native village, by force if necessary. Poor Jesus! He meets opposition from all sides, even from his relatives and childhood friends.

How lucky I am to belong to a family that loves and supports me. Not everyone is so lucky. The tensions resulting from this lockdown can contribute to souring already fragile relationships. The feeling of not being understood and being rejected by our loved ones can then grow and plunge us into even greater loneliness. Where did Jesus find the strength to endure such rejection? In his relationship with the Father.

Abba, Father, I thank you for my family and friends. They are a real blessing for me in this time of lockdown. However, I can’t help but consider the many people who find themselves even more isolated because of relationship breakdowns caused by this lockdown. I hold them up in prayer so that you might console them, enlighten them and give them hope even in their loneliness.

Amen.