THE WORD
Gal 3,22-29 / Lk 11,27-28
While Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” He replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.
IN OTHER WORDS
One of the titles given to the Gospel of Luke is: The Gospel of Mary. Luke gives many vivid accounts about Mama Mary. One of which was when Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth who greeted her: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk. 1:42).
Mama Mary is truly blessed! What made her so blessed? The totality of her being makes her so blessed. In the story of the annunciation, the angel’s greeting is the first proof: “Hail Mary, full of grace” (Lk. 1:28). Then, the angel adds, “The Lord is with you.” In her being God resides; that makes her filled with grace. Literally, her body was filled with grace when she carried Jesus in her womb for nine months.
In today’s Gospel, while Jesus was speaking, a woman from the crowd called out and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed” (Lk. 11:27-28). Aside from the angel, her cousin Elizabeth, this particular woman could not contain her amazement towards Mama Mary that she shouted and uttered those words.
But Jesus’ answer, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it,” might be misinterpreted as a form of disagreement. It was actually an affirmation of the woman’s comment. Who truly heard the word of God and observed it? It was Mama Mary!
Mama Mary listened intently to Jesus and she did it up to the foot of the cross. She observed the word of God especially when she uttered her at: “Be it done to me according to your word.” Do we want to be blessed? Let’s imitate Mama Mary. Let’s listen to the word of God and observe it.
- Fr. Glenn Paul Gomez, SVD | DWC, San Jose. Occ. Mindoro
The Word in other words 2016
An annual project of Logos Publications, The WORD in Other Words Bible Diary contains daily scripture readings and reflections written by priest, brothers, and sisters of the three congregations founded by St. Arnold Janssen (the SVD, SSpS, and SSpSAP). It hopes to serve as a daily companion to readers who continually seek the correlation of the Word of God and human experience.
