Today, 22nd of February, we celebrate
The Chair of Saint Peter the Apostle
Brothers and sisters:
Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come,
and not the very image of them, it can never make perfect
those who come to worship by the same sacrifices
that they offer continually each year.
Otherwise, would not the sacrifices have ceased to be offered,
since the worshipers, once cleansed, would no longer
have had any consciousness of sins?
But in those sacrifices there is only a yearly remembrance of sins,
for it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats
take away sins.
For this reason, when he came into the world, he said:
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.
First he says, Sacrifices and offerings,
burnt offerings and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in.
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, Behold, I come to do your will.
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this "will," we have been consecrated
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
R./ Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the Lord,
and he stooped toward me.
And he put a new song into my mouth,
a hymn to our God.
R./ Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Burnt offerings or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."
R./ Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord, know.
R./ Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.
R./ Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
The mother of Jesus and his brothers arrived at the house.
Standing outside, they sent word to Jesus and called him.
A crowd seated around him told him,
"Your mother and your brothers and your sisters
are outside asking for you."
But he said to them in reply,
"Who are my mother and my brothers?"
And looking around at those seated in the circle he said,
"Here are my mother and my brothers.
For whoever does the will of God
is my brother and sister and mother."
This passage appears in all three synoptic Gospels (Mt 12:46-50; Mk 3:31-35; Lk 8:19-21), indicating that the early Christian communities considered its message significant. Jesus came as the mediator to gather the sons and daughters of God, so that the Abba might truly be the Abba of all.
Jesus does not recognize as His family those who fail to do the will of His Father. He does not disregard the bonds of blood, but He emphasizes that they are not enough to be part of His new family. Mary, however, belongs to Jesus’ new family—not only as His mother but also as His disciple. From her, we must learn what it means to be “mothers, brothers, and sisters” of Jesus in His new family.
Everyone who seeks and does the will of God is part of God’s great family. In the Gospels, doing “the will of God” means prioritizing “love for the Father and love for one’s neighbor” above all else. United with God, we become closer as brothers and sisters. Do we feel connected and mutually committed as family in Christ? Do we seek God’s will in our lives?
In the Our Father, we don’t ask for help to do God’s will—we ask that His will be done in us. Mary sets the example: “Let it be done to me according to your Word.”
With gratitude,
Salvador León, C.M.F.We honor today St. Thomas Aquinas (1225—1274), who was one of the great est theologians in the Church’s history, yet his life was marked by simplicity. He succeeded in making a harmonious synthesis between the philosophy of Aristotie and the theological thought of the Bible and of St. Augustine. Prayer and contemplation were the sources of his theology. In his time, he was considered by many a dangerous innovator and suffered much contradiction. Let us ask today for his understanding of the faith, his wisdom, and his spirit of prayer.
Lord our God,
we thank you for St. Thomas,
a great saint and a wise thinker.
Grant us the wisdom
to reflect on the word of the Good News,
that it may deepen our insight in our faith
and make our ¡ove for you grow.
Give also to the Church of our time
great prophets and theologians
who make us see what the faith means
to the people of our day.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
Lord our God,
you give taste to our lives
through the bread and wine of your Son,
for they steep us in his ¡ove and faithfulness.
Do not allow us to lose our savor
but to be people who try to preserve in this world
the goodness and dedicated love
which you have shown us in your Son,
Jesus Christ, our Lord.
God, our Father,
thank you for letting us share
in the life of your Son.
Do not let us hide our faith
but make it shine in each of us
and in all our communities
as a bright light shining on ah.
Let it not be us
but the love and the goodness of your Son
that brightens our world.
We ask this through Christ, our Lord.