Gospel: Mark 3: 31-35
In ancient religions belonging to a deity or religious tradition was a matter decided beyond one's control or purview. Such considerations were already decided based upon your gender, race or nationality, or one's socio-economic status. These represented the fate of one's life, the choice made for you by the gods themselves. It was a fixed system that could not be changed.
Jesus, however, comes along to change this paradigm entirely with two important teachings. The first teaching is that God chooses everyone to be in his family, to serve in his kingdom. No one is excluded, all are invited by virtue of the fact that one is a human being made in God's image and likeness. The second teaching comes in today's Gospel, and it is that we have agency in this matter as well. We belong to God's family in choosing to follow God's will for us in our lives. By accepting God's invitation to belong to the family we seek to do God's will daily.
So belonging to God's family and kingdom is not arbitrary, nor is it exclusive. The invitation is extended to all without qualification, and our response to the invitation has real and profound implications as well. The relationship between us and God is authentic and reciprocal, one based on love, not coercion.
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