In today’s gospel, Jesus takes a legitimate desire that his family has of seeing him and turns it into a lesson of God’s wide embrace. Christ could have asked people to make way for his mother and his brothers, giving them front row seats. He did not do this. Instead, he lets his listeners know that they can have a relationship with him as close and as intimate as his family if they hear God’s word and act on it.
What does this look like? The Blessed Virgin Mary and the rest of Jesus’ family help us to answer that question. We can imagine them standing in the back, behind the crowd. Sometimes, it means that the first shall be the last, that we will give our place to others so that they might experience Christ’s love and closeness.
May we ask for our Lady’s intercession in doing this gladly and selflessly!