The Feast of Saints Cosmas and Damian | Tuesday 26 September 2023

Today is Tuesday 26 September, the feast of Ss Cosmas and Damian, in the 25th week of Ordinary time.

The community of Taizé sing, Jésus le Christ: ‘Jesus Christ, inner light, do not let my darkness speak to me. Jesus Christ, inner light, let me welcome your love.’

(Lyrics currently unavailable)

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.


Luke 8:19-21


Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, ‘Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, wanting to see you.’ But he said to them, ‘My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.’

Can you remember a time when you tried to get through to someone in a crowded place? Let your memory of a time like that bring you close to Mary and the brothers of Jesus, as this time of prayer begins.

We’re not told here why Jesus’s mother and brothers want to see him. What do you think they might have been hoping for here as they try to reach him?

If you didn’t know the rest of the story, how might you have expected Jesus to react when the news of his family’s arrival reaches him?

As the passage is read again, notice who it is that Jesus recognises as his mother and brothers, and see if you can sense the tone that he uses in making this declaration.

Are you one of those who “hear the word of God and do it”? Do you want to be? Talk now to Jesus, or to his mother, or to his brothers, about what you have noticed in hearing this gospel story.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.