Jesus became “too” radical. I can imagine his family going out to “save” Jesus from the craziness that had consumed him. His healings, forgiving sins, itinerant preaching, criticizing the established order caused trouble—and still does today. Christ’s model for the Kingdom of God is completely different to our own. His response to those who tell him, “your mother and brothers are asking for you,” can seem a bit severe to us: “Who are my mothers and brothers, but those who do the will of God?” Some may hear erroneously, “He has rejected his family, and has excluded them from his presence.”
Others hear a message of radical inclusion— “Even those who were not relatives by blood become my family now.” He breaks open the limits of the Kingdom, making room for all who do God’s will. Whom do I include/exclude from my love? Can I say: “Here is my family”?
—Michael Martinez, S.J., a Jesuit scholastic of the Antilles province, is studying philosophy at Loyola University Chicago.