The radical power in the soul of every disciple of Jesus

“For whoever does the will of God is my brother, sister and mother” (Mk 3:35). It is easy to read Jesus’ words as a distancing of himself from his family; however, it is nothing of the sort. It was an invitation for his hearers to consider entering into relationship with him by becoming his disciples and eventually walking with him up to Jerusalem. 

 

The path of the disciple is never an easy one. In fact, Jesus warns us that it will be difficult. He likens discipleship to a new type of family, which does the will of God. As a member of the family, we are challenged to view the joys and sufferings of life in the light of his cross.

 

In our passage from Mark, Jesus never explicitly indicates what constitutes doing the will of God. However, we will understand it more fully, later on, when we witness Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane perfectly fulfilling the stated conditions for discipleship by accepting the cup of suffering offered to him as part of the Father’s plan for our salvation.

 

It would seem, then, that the will of God for us would be to allow him into our sufferings and joys by telling him all about them through our dialogue of prayer. In the garden, Jesus pours his heart into the heart of the Father and receives the strength he needs to complete his journey to the cross. Jesus consistently models for us what obedience to the will of the Father looks like. He counters the temptations of Satan by interiorly calling upon the power of his Father’s love for him. 

 

The radical power contained within the soul of every disciple of Jesus is the ability to do the same thing by uniting our hearts to his Sacred Heart, which is eternally united to the heart of the Father. Our union of hearts produces within us the fruit of obedience to the will of the Father and our obedience to his will has the power to transform us from ordinary men and women into extraordinary saints.

 

Father Walter Nolte is pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Fremont. Contact him at wlnolte@archomaha.org.