THE WORD

2 Tm 1,1-8 (or Ti 1,1-5) / Mk 3,31-35

His mother and his brothers arrived. Standing outside they sent word to him 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.”

IN OTHER WORDS

1,000 kisses (besos) every week. At least 52,000 kisses in a year. I received around 364,000 kisses (besos) in my 7-year stay in Argentina. Bastante! A lot! How? Usually priests stay at the front of the entrance of the church after every mass to greet the people. The usual greeting in Argentina is the “beso”. And all the people greet the priest before going back to their homes. I felt I belonged to them and they belonged to me as a family.

“Your mother and your brothers (and sisters) are outside asking for you” and Jesus said, “Who are my mother and brothers?” I was literally the only Filipino in the parish of 50,000 baptized Catholics. I was tens of thousands kilometers away from my family and my country. Yet, I found a new and

much bigger family. They had become my mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. And indeed, they treated me as one of their own.

“Who are my mother and brothers (and sisters)?” All persons that I encounter along my journey are my mothers, fathers, and sisters and brothers. We are all God’s children. We belong to a BIG family. Really BIG! And that would mean receiving not only a lot of kisses, but billions of them.

• Fr. Ruper Solis, SVD | (CKMS, Quezon City)

The Word in other words 2016

An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.

	Production : Fr. Carlos Maria de Guzman, Jr., SVD and Staff of Logos Publications
	Cover Design : Malou E. Domingo
	Liturgical Calendar : Fr. Atilano Corcuera, SVD
	Production Consultant : Fr. Gerardo del Pinado, SVD
	Scriptural Texts : New American Bible and Daily Roman Missal
	Cover artwork based on photos by Fr. Bar Fabella, SVD
	Published by : Logos Publications, Inc. 1916 Oroquieta St., Sta. Cruz, Manila
	Email Address: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
	Telephone : +63 2 711 1323
	Fax : +63 2 732 273
	Copyright © 2015 Society of the Divine Word