Lk 11: 27-28
While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”
New Revised Standard Version, copyright 1989, by the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. USCCB approved.
Attentive to God’s Word
It can be hard for many of us to take a compliment. We demure, offer self-deprecating remarks, or are quick to brush it off. At first glance, Jesus seems to be doing the same thing about a compliment directed to him and, by extension, to his mother. The woman acknowledges his greatness by calling out blessings to the woman who gave birth to him and raised him. Jesus’ response is not deflecting the praise, but rather is opening it up to a much wider group. One is not blessed simply because of their lineage or biology, but rather by being attentive to God’s word.
Jesus’s response in today’s Gospel is not meant to discount Mary’s role, but rather to focus on the future, and how we live our lives going forward. Do we hear the word of God, take it to heart, and live it out in our daily lives?
—The Jesuit Prayer team
Prayer
Good and gracious God, we thank you for giving us your word as a guide for how we are called to live. Open our hearts to receive it and then turn around and put it into action. May all that we do be guided by our faith in you. Amen.
—The Jesuit Prayer team