How we can be Christ’s brothers and sisters

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

CHRIST defined it very clearly. When told that his mother, Mary, was in the crowd wanting to see him while he was preaching, he said, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” (Lk 8,21)

It was not, of course, meant to demean his mother, but rather to praise her. That’s because if there was anyone who fitted perfectly the description of who his mother and brothers were, it could be none other than Mary. She heard the word of God and acted on it consistently and to the limit.

We, too, if we want to be a member of God’s family, should learn how to hear the word of God and to act on it all the time. This will take a lot of effort, together of course with God’s grace, for us to achieve, given the way we are. That is why we have to start to do something about this as early as possible.

The first thing to do is to know where we can hear the word of God and how we can act on it. It’s actually knowing and acting on God’s will every moment of our life. God’s will is known by studying the doctrine of our faith. What can also help is to be familiar with the living testimonies of saints who had managed to know, love and obey God’s will.

We can also know God’s will, at least in some generic way, by performing, as best that we can, all the duties and responsibilities as well as the rights inherent to our conditions or status in life, whether we are single or married, student or professional, etc.

We should also realize that God’s will can be known by having a running conversation with God all day long. We have to realize that God’s will is always manifested in any and every situation we can find ourselves in.

That’s because he is always intervening in our life. It’s a matter therefore of discerning it by having presence of God all throughout the day, if not, a conversation where we can ask him directly what he wants us to do in any given moment.

His will is known by what any situation ethically demands from us, and also by what the others have a right to expect from us or what we owe to them.

We have to remember that our will is meant to be engaged with the will of God, its creator and lawgiver. Our will is the very power we have been given by God that enables us to unite ourselves with God in the most intimate way. All the other aspects of our life are also governed by God-given laws but, by themselves they cannot bring us into intimate union with God, unless moved by our will that is animated by God’s grace.

We cannot and should not expropriate our will to simply be our own. We are meant only to be stewards of it, not its owner nor its designer, creator and lawgiver. It has to submit itself to the will of God, otherwise it would be working without proper foundation and purpose.

Everyday, we have to find practical ways of how we can unite our will with God’s will. Our will should not just be floating around on its own, thinking that it is how it enjoys its freedom. Let’s be careful with that mindset which, unfortunately, is very common these days.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com