Reflection for the 10th Sunday of the year  (Mark 3:20-35)

I warned him that this could end badly, but he just laughed me off. He has no one but himself to blame. Now he’s desperate for my help — but I’m done. Call him back? You’re out of your mind.

I’m the mother of two children under the age of eight and I’m at the office a minimum of nine hours a day — and I bring home a bag full of work each night. You’re asking me to give some time to a parish ministry? Forgive me saying this, but you’re out of your mind.

Don’t get me wrong — we’d like to help. But things have been rough lately. We’re barely getting by each month. Asking us to donate?  We’d have to be out of our minds.

Yeah, many of the demands made on us are unreasonable, unrealistic, totally beyond us.

And yet . . .

Despite a long day at work and a cold coming on, it’s her parish’s night to staff the soup kitchen. People are depending on her, so with extra Kleenex, water and Tylenol, she heads downtown. She’s got to be out of her mind.

He’s in the middle of a meeting with prospective buyers. This deal has been in the works for months. But the prospective buyers insist on changes to the original agreement. There’s still some money to be made, but a lot of good and talented employees will lose their jobs and the customer service protocols he worked so hard to establish will be seriously compromised. So he walks away from the deal. The guy’s out of his mind.

The kids love hockey, but things were getting out of hand. Every weekend from was spent at hockey fields, some a two-hour drive from their home. The games were great — but making it work was taking a toll on everyone. So Mom and Dad put on the breaks. Their kids are all great players, the engines of their teams — but this wasn’t working for their life as a family. They must be out of their minds.

Yeah, we have to be “out of our minds” to do as Jesus would do. But to follow Jesus means putting aside the mind-set of me-first-it’s-not-my-fault-take-responsibility-for-yourself-my-time-is-too-important-for-the-likes-of-you. For the sake of what is right and just, for the sake of those we love, for the sake of the common good, God asks us to act as Jesus would — even if those around us think we’re “out of our minds.” But what others consider crazy can be the wisest, sanest and most faithful thing we do.