Part of God’s family

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers what it means to be part of God’s family

Readings for mass can be found here

Recently I was sorting out my father’s house in Somerset following his move to a care home here in Cardiff. I unearthed a trove of photographs, including the house where he lived being built back in 1968; him and my late mum moving in; and me and my brother as babies. Those photos documented a family establishing itself and growing, as so many do all of the time, all around the world.

Our readings today are also about a different sort of family taking root, the family of God’s people. In our first reading King David triumphantly brings the Ark of the Covenant to his new capital of Jerusalem. The Ark contained the tablets of the law given to Moses and represented God’s presence with his people. David had already established a political kingdom; by returning the Ark, he also began a religious or spiritual one. The Israelites are united as one family under one earthly king, and with God in their midst.

In the Gospel, Jesus reimagines what it means to be family. Membership is no longer defined by blood ties but rather by those who are in union with God and ready to do his will. That means there is a place for everyone. Let us always remember that we are part of this wonderful, mysterious, enriching family which is God’s people. Let us seek always to do his will, remembering that he is with us, not as the Ark of the Covenant but through his Son Jesus. And let us always make room at the table of God’s family for others to come and join us, so that they too may know the joy of being his brother or sister or mother.

Mass tonight is in St Mary’s at 6.30pm.