October 11 Saturday Luke 11: 27-28 Gal. 3: 22-29 / Psa 105 Mary and the Word of God ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’ - Luke 11:28 We keep God’s Word to make us worthy To earn God’s kingdom, and nothing less. Let’s strive to be like Mother Mary, Who is our model of holiness. While Jesus was teaching the crowd, a woman there raised her voice and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed!’ In turn, Jesus replied, ‘Rather, blessed are those who hear the Word of God and observe it!’ (Luke 11:27-28) Reflection There was never an opportunity that our Lord Jesus did not use to enlighten His followers to a higher truth. When a woman heaped praises on Him for His wondrous works, He deflected the blessing to “those who hear the Word of God and obey it.” He never deviated from His single-minded mission to proclaim Gods message of salvation. Hearing and obeying the Word of God is truly the foundation of our faith. Those of us who belong to a community of believers (like BCBP, BLD, CfC, etc.) are blessed for having been called to join God’s family. Here we undergo the formation of our Christian values by being immersed in the Scriptures, particularly in the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. But was Jesus disparaging His own mother for the sake of proclaiming the Good News? This was the second time that He seemed to be belittling His own mother in order to emphasize the importance of God’s Word. The first time was when His mother and some cousins came to see Him but could not enter the house where He was teaching because of the crowd. When someone told Jesus that they were outside and wished to see Him, He replied, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the Word of God and do it” (Lk.8:19-21). As some detractors of our Marian devotion like to point out, aren’t these passages proof that our Lord gave little importance to the role of Mary in our faith vis-à-vis the Word of God? Quite the contrary. Our Mother Mary was in fact Jesus’ model of one who lived the Word of God. She was not only blessed for bearing and nursing Jesus, but rather she was more blessed for hearing the Word of God constantly and obeying it fully. After all, she was the first to believe (Lk.1:45), and had always kept the words of her Son in her heart (Lk.2:51). St. Augustine spoke of her so well in one of his homilies when he said, “Mary heard Gods word and kept it, and so she is blessed. She kept Gods truth in her mind, a nobler thing than carrying His body in her womb. The truth and the body were both Christ: He was kept in Marys mind insofar as He is truth, He was carried in her womb insofar as He is man; but what is kept in the mind is of a higher order than what is carried in the womb.” (St. Augustine Sermon 25, 7-8: PL 46, 937-938.) Lord Jesus, we thank You for giving us Mary, Your Mother when You were at the point of death in Calvary to be our Mother of Intercession. Especially during this month of the Holy Rosary, we venerate her as our model of faith, obedience, purity and compassion. May the devotion of our Church to Your Mother grow stronger even in the midst of the world’s tribulations. Dear Mother Mary, pray for us. Amen.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 02:54:10 +0000
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