Fr. Michael Williams

The World Cup finishes today. I can see many of you are disappointed. The concept of the World Cup was an idea of Jules Rimet. He was a French Catholic who believed that football could be used to promote brotherhood between the nations. He believed it was a good way of bringing the family of nations together. The World Cup tournament is a very Catholic concept that has a Universal dimension to it, that transcends national boundaries.

But as in any family the odd squabble breaks out. We have seen this in the World Cup. Players representing various nations can forget the original purpose of the World Cup, which was to promote fraternity and goodwill between countries.

In today’s gospel we see a family disagreement. Jesus has left His carpentry behind Him and embarked on His mission of salvation to the world. Yet His extended family “would not accept Him”. (It’s worth pointing out that when the gospel’s speak of Jesus’ brothers and sisters it is referring to extended family members like cousins, Divine Revelation has shown us that Mary remained ever-virgin). These close relations of Jesus, and those who had seen Him grow up, ask “Where did the man get all this, What is this wisdom that has been granted Him, and these miracles that are worked through Him”.

No doubt it was a challenge for those who knew Jesus to come to terms with His new mission. They had looked on Him in a particular way, but now they were called to look upon Him differently. This required faith, yet it seems faith was fairly thin on the ground. “Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith”.

To accept Jesus for who He really is requires faith. Many of the townspeople who knew Jesus had made their mind up about who He was, and they would not budge on this. Today many people have made up their mind about Jesus, and will not budge on this.

Jesus continues to visit small towns and large cities throughout the world today, via the Church, which is His Body. And still today, “they would not accept Him”. This is particularly true of Europe. The Church in some sense spent her childhood in Europe, growing and maturing here, yet now Europe’s politicians often reject her. They say, ‘we do not want your prophetic voice’. The Church is a prophet as she speaks God’s Word to the world.

One area where the prophetic voice of the Church speaks today with clarity is with regards family life. Pope Benedict is in Valencia today for the World Meeting of Families. On his arrival yesterday he said, ‘the family is a unique institution in God’s plan and the Church cannot fail to proclaim and promote its fundamental importance [and] according to human nature it is man and woman who are made for each other and to give humanity a future [through the family]’. As Christians we are called to speak the truth about the family, and reject laws which undermine the true nature of the family.

Jesus belonged to a family. Some of His wider family could not accept the truths He espoused. Some members of the human family are espousing laws against God and nature. Yet like Jesus we must speak the truth, even if people don’t accept it.

True prophets are always rejected by the world, and it’s prince. Ezekiel was sent to the Israelites who had become rebels against the commandments of God and suffered for it. Paul himself spoke boldly the truth about Jesus, and suffered “hardships, persecutions and agonies for Christ’s sake”; and of course Jesus, the Prophet of all prophets, spoke the truth and was crucified for it. The Body of Christ, the Church, continues to proclaim the truth, and is persecuted by the lobby of the politically correct. Nevertheless, lets pray that we will have the courage to be faithful to authentic Christian values, even if we are opposed by members of our own families.