"Blessed is the womb that carried you
and the breasts at which you nursed."
The woman thought that honor would accrue to the mother of Jesus simply because he was her son in a physical sense, like a woman whose son won the Nobel Prize might justifiably think that some of what made him successful came from both her genetics and her care in raising him. But this sort of honor that a child could win for a parent was a secondary sort.
He replied, "Rather, blessed are those
who hear the word of God and observe it."
That which was highest in Jesus was not that which he received from Mary, but which was from his Father in heaven. To be sure we need not diminish what was received from Mary nor her very real effort expended in his upbringing. But there was much more to Jesus than that. Yet Mary was not blessed only because of her relationship with Jesus in a physical, human sense. She was also blessed by her relationship of faith. She, more than anyone else, heard the word of God and observed it, giving her full and uncompromised ascent when she spoke her fiat.
Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham (see Galatians 3:7).
Mary's faith allowed her to be incorporated into the family of God in a way that mere genetics never could. Her yes opened the way for her to experience God as her own Father, and made it possible for her to in turn become the mother, not only of Jesus, but of all those who would follow him and keep his commandments.
When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” (see John 19:26).
her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus (see Revelation 12:17).
This means that the blessings of relation to Jesus are not limited to those only who happen to have been proximate to him in time, space, and genetics. They are available also to us who have faith. Jesus calls his mother and his brothers "those who hear the word of God and carry it out" (see Luke 8:21). Mary was thus his mother in a double sense. But we are all invited to share in the great intimacy of being related to Jesus by faith. Our faith will never be so perfect as to make us so perfectly the spiritual mother that Mary was for Jesus. Yet by our faith we too give birth to Christ in our own lives, we too may love and cherish him with the tenderness of a mother.
Jesus himself is the word of God whom we must hear and observe. It is by attentiveness to his presence in word and Sacrament that we learn how he desires us to respond, how he desires to be born in us in a way that is unique to each of us. This blessing is not limited only to Mary or to a select few who lived at that time. All who have faith may share it.
Light dawns for the just;
and gladness, for the upright of heart.
Be glad in the LORD, you just,
and give thanks to his holy name.
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