Brothers and Sisters of Jesus

Jesus meant it when he said that those who do the will of God are his brothers and sisters. (Cf. Mk 3:35). This becomes apparent when we look at the recent saint,  Marianne Cope, otherwise known as St. Marianne of Molokai, canonized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. Accepting the invitation of the King of Hawaii as an expression of God's will, she spent 30 years caring for lepers, seeing them as her brothers and sisters, loving them, treating them (with the minimal medications available in the late 1800's and early 20th century), and bringing a :"little more sunshine" into their lives. Simple but heroic, and certainly an inspiration for us.  Most of us will never go to Molokai or have the opportunity for such dramatic service to "the least favored", but taking the words of Jesus seriously and seeing the people in our lives, our work, our communities, as our brothers and sisters, loving them and treating them as such, we too can bring "a little sunshine" into their lives. St. Marianne, pray for us that we may see how we can be brothers and sisters to those in need of family love,  and pray that we might follow through on what we see.