The bonds of the spirit and how these latter, the supernatural bonds and the bonds of the spirit
are more noble, more intimate, more real, and more profound.
We see in the first reading, taken from the letter to the Hebrews,
it talks about the body of our Lord and the will of God.
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.
In burnt offerings and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, as is written of me in the scroll,
Behold, I come to do your will, O God.
So God has prepared a body for the Redeemer, and he has come to do the will of God.
By this will we have been consecrated through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
So God prepares a body for the Redeemer, the instrument,
by which we would be redeemed.
And he takes that body from the flesh of the Virgin Mary
by the power of the Holy Spirit.
So it is the love of the Holy Spirit for the Blessed Mother
and our Lady's love for God that brings forth the body of the Redeemer.
And our Lord would fulfill the will of his Father and accomplish the redemption
through the body of the Redeemer.
The sacrificial offering of his body.
Now we go to the gospel where the mother of Jesus and his brothers arrive at the house
and they call for our Lord.
They want to speak with him.
And then our Lord turns to those around him and says,
Who are my mother and my brothers?
Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.
So Mary, having given the body to Jesus Christ,
given him his human nature,
she is the natural mother of our Lord.
There is a natural relationship with him.
These brothers, of course, are not the children of Mary,
nor are they the children of St. Joseph by some other woman,
but they are the relatives of our Lord, his cousins, extended family.
So they, too, share, have a blood relationship with our Lord,
a natural relationship.
And when our Lord says,
Who are my mother and my brothers?
Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.
That's not saying that those who are standing outside
with whom he has a natural relationship
are not his mother, brothers and sisters,
but that they are his brothers and sisters.
But that natural bond is not as noble,
not as important, not as intimate and real
as the supernatural bond that unites our Lord
with those who do the will of his Father.
Those who do the will of God,
it refers to the soul in the state of grace,
who have the life of God in the soul,
vivifying the soul.
So we can see for all of those
who are united in the mystical body of Christ
by means of baptism and faith
and have a living faith,
animated by charity,
there is a more intimate bond
than the bond we have with our mother and father,
our brothers and sisters,
in our natural family.
And this is really experienced
by some souls,
who happen to be in a situation where,
say, a wife is a believing, practicing Catholic
and the husband is not a believing, practicing Catholic.
There's a sensible distance between the two,
notwithstanding the two have become one flesh.
But the wife, who is living in the state of grace,
actually feels more intimacy
with the community of believers,
with other souls who are in the state of grace.
And that's because the bond we share
by the common faith
and by having the life of grace in our soul
unites us more intimately
than those fleshly bonds.
So let's pray that all souls
will follow the will of God
and will be joined into the intimacy
of his supernatural family.
That is the church.
And share the joy of spiritual brotherhood
with the members of the mystical body of Christ.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
Amen.
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