Mk 3:20-21
They went home. The crowd began to gather again and they couldn’t even have a meal. Knowing what was happening, his relatives came to take charge of him. “He is out of his mind,” they said.
REFLECTION
A distraught mother sought help for her adult daughter who, she perceived, was going “out of her mind.” She described her daughter as someone who used to be good and “obedient.” But when the daughter returned from her studies abroad, she was a totally different person. She had become non-compliant with the unwritten family rules, and passionate about her beliefs, some of which were shocking. This got everyone in the family worried. Perhaps the relatives of Jesus reacted in a similar manner. What made them think that Jesus was “out of his mind?” They had heard about him breaking the Sabbath law and about demons recognizing him, calling him God’s Son. They were also disturbed that his ministry was depriving him of food and rest. Such deprivations are known to have ill effects on someone’s behavior. They did not seem to understand what made him change so drastically and wanted to protect him from further damage. When radical changes happen to a person, family members can sometimes be the last ones to understand. Following Jesus calls us to change profoundly in our attitudes and behavior. Are we willing to undergo this radical change in following God’s call?
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