Brothers and sisters

A parenthetical note:

Today’s Gospel (Matthew 13:54-58) is one of those that usually strike cradle Catholics as strange in that it speaks of Jesus as having brothers and sisters, which runs counter to the traditional understanding of Mary's perpetual virginity.

In the usage of that time and place, of course, the terms "brothers" and "sisters" included close relatives who were not necessarily children of the same parents. Some have even considered the possibility that Joseph had been a widower with children and that these half-brothers and half-sisters are the ones referred to in this passage.

The most important thing, of course, is not who these "brothers and sisters" were, but who Jesus is: in history, in eternity, and in our souls.