Unsplash<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Not long ago, I was at a social event with several people I didn\u2019t know, most of whom were younger than me.\u00a0 I\u2019m no fan of small talk, but there are times when it\u2019s required, and this was one of them.\u00a0 My new acquaintances and I discussed the usual topics.\u00a0 What do you do?\u00a0 Where are you from?\u00a0 How long have you lived here?\u00a0 Blah, blah, blah.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then one woman asked another, \u201cHow many kids do you have?\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To which the other responded, \u201cFour . . . but sometimes it feels like fourteen!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hear ya, and I just have my three.\u00a0 You must meet yourself coming and going,\u201d New Acquaintance #1 declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSome days I can\u2019t remember my own name!\u201d New Acquaintance #2 was happy to have found a compadre.\u00a0 They went on to discuss the challenges of getting kids to soccer practice, the ridiculous amount of homework kids have today, and the eternal struggle to keep siblings from pounding on each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh, Lord, yes!\u00a0 As soon as I broke up that fight in the living room, I heard the little one wailing from the bathroom because the older one I left in charge locked her in there!\u201d \u00a0\u00a0New Acquaintance #1 had also found a kindred spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou said it!\u00a0 I swear, if I\u2019d have know how difficult it would be, maybe I wouldn\u2019t have had all these kids,\u201d New Acquaintance #2 said.\u00a0 \u201cBut really, I wanted my kids to have each other once Brad and I are gone.\u00a0 I just couldn\u2019t think of not giving them siblings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As luck would have it, that\u2019s precisely when they seemed to remember that I was standing there.\u00a0 Oh, if I could have just slithered away before they noticed, but I hadn\u2019t figured out how to do that.\u00a0 New Acquaintance #1, suddenly aware of the need for more inclusive conversation, said to me, \u201cI know your kids are older.\u00a0 How many do you have?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only Children<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
When I said \u201cOne,\u201d they looked at me like I had told them my son\u2019s father was Elvis.\u00a0 And that he was still alive and living with us at a local commune.\u00a0 You know when people \u2013 women, at least \u2013 feel awkward?\u00a0 It\u2019s easy to tell.\u00a0 They have these anatomically awkward smiles frozen on their faces.\u00a0 My new acquaintances looked at me with those rigid, awkward smiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s great!\u201d New Acquaintance #1 proclaimed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But I got them \u2013 and me \u2013 off the hook.\u00a0 \u201cOh, that\u2019s my husband over there.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be right back,\u201d I explained and moved away from the frozen smile women.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t go back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Honestly, it\u2019s not been frequent, but I have had a few instances in which people seem incredulous at the idea that I would have only one child.\u00a0 That fact seems to make them more uncomfortable than it does me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, it\u2019s the opposite situation in today\u2019s gospel reading.\u00a0 The Creed we say at Mass says that Jesus is the \u201conly<\/strong> son of God.\u201d\u00a0 But Mark\u2019s gospel today says, \u201cIs he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us\u201d (6: 3)?\u00a0\u00a0 Later in the New Testament, Paul also writes, \u201cThen after three years I went up to Jerusalem to confer with Cephas and remained with him for fifteen days.\u00a0 But I did not see any other of the apostles, only James, the brother of the Lord\u201d (Galatians 1: 18-19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scholars have long debated the meaning of these lines.\u00a0 Some say that Mary and Joseph went on to have other children after Jesus.\u00a0 Others say that Mary was Joseph\u2019s second wife, so Jesus had older half-brothers or half-sisters.\u00a0 Some say the use of \u201cbrothers and sisters\u201d in these lines really means disciples.\u00a0 The official word from the Catholic Church is that Jesus had no siblings and that Mary was a perpetual virgin.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I guess my question is . . . does it really matter?<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong> I don\u2019t think so.\u00a0 Would Jesus\u2019 message and ministry somehow be \u201cless than\u201d if his mother was known to have had sex and born other children?\u00a0 For me, the clear answer is no.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nOne and Only<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We humans have a need to identify importance through exclusivity.\u00a0 Something that is \u201cthe one and only\u201d is, by definition, the very best.\u00a0 If the original can be copied, then its brand takes a hit.\u00a0 If a generic option is available, the original looses value.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think it would be a stretch to say that the Church may have used the language of exclusivity to advance a truth about Jesus\u2019 \u201cspecialness,\u201d not a truth about his historical family of origin.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And when all is said and done, it doesn\u2019t really matter.\u00a0 For me, nothing about Jesus would change if I found out for sure that he did have siblings.\u00a0\u00a0 There\u2019s nothing wrong with being an \u201conly child.\u201d\u00a0 But there\u2019s nothing wrong if Jesus weren\u2019t one.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Was Jesus an only child? Without a doubt, family matters. But perhaps it doesn’t matter so much whether Jesus had siblings or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4926,"featured_media":654,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[111,66,21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-catholic-beliefs","category-church","category-faith-and-doubt"],"yoast_head":"\n
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