The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate the blessing in our lives of acting in accord with the will of God.
Counting Blessings
The reading from the Prophet Joel describes the glorious future of Judah.
* [4:18] Images of agricultural abundance illustrate the harmony and order Joel expects the Lord to establish in Judah; like 2:18–27, this section reverses the deprivation and drought of chap. 1. A spring…house of the LORD: streams of water flowing from the Temple of an ideal Jerusalem also appear in Ez 47:1. The Valley of Shittim: or “the ravine of the acacia trees”; while there is a Shittim east of the Jordan, the reference here is probably to that rocky part of the Kidron Valley southeast of Jerusalem, an arid region where acacia trees flourished.1
Psalm 97 praises the Glory of God’s Reign.
* [Psalm 97] The hymn begins with God appearing in a storm, a traditional picture of some ancient Near Eastern gods (Ps 97:1–6); cf. Ps 18:8–16; Mi 1:3–4; Heb 3:3–15. Israel rejoices in the overthrowing of idol worshipers and their gods (Ps 97:7–9) and the rewarding of the faithful righteous (Ps 97:10–12).2
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus describes true blessedness.
* [11:27–28] The beatitude in Lk 11:28 should not be interpreted as a rebuke of the mother of Jesus; see note on Lk 8:21. Rather, it emphasizes (like Lk 2:35) that attentiveness to God’s word is more important than biological relationship to Jesus.3
Dennis Hamm, S.J. comments (in 2009) that when Jesus answers—“Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it”—it may sound at first as if he is deflecting the compliment to his mother by using it to make his own point, as if he has said that anyone who does God’s will is greater than his mother. In fact, he increases the honoring of his mother. He is saying, in effect, “Greater even than her human mothering of me is the way Miriam has heard the word of God and carried out that word.”
For us, Jesus is the word of God. We imitate Mary by hearing and following Jesus. That’s what this business of daily reflection (on the word of God about the Word of God) is all about. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.4
Don Schwager quotes “Blessings for hearing and keeping the Word,” by Saint Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Mary was more blessed in accepting the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. To someone who said, 'Blessed is the womb that bore you,' he replied, 'Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it.' Finally, for his brothers, his relatives according to the flesh who did not believe in him, of what advantage was that relationship? Even her maternal relationship would have done Mary no good unless she had borne Christ more happily in her heart than in her flesh." (excerpt from HOLY VIRGINITY 3.1)5
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 11:27-28 comments that Jesus wasn’t trying to disrespect Mary—he loved her! Rather, he was emphasizing the true reason for Mary’s blessedness: she obeyed the word of God. And although Mary didn’t suffer from original sin, she still had to learn to understand God’s word and live it out each day. So how did she do it?
Mary was attentive. Mary grew up hearing the Hebrew Scriptures, so she knew to listen for God’s voice. She probably wasn’t expecting an angelic messenger, but she was open to God’s word, however it came to her...Mary was obedient. Mary didn’t just say yes; she did the will of God throughout her life...Mary persevered. Mary’s blessedness didn’t protect her from suffering (Luke 2:35). She knew that obeying the word of God would be costly, yet she didn’t waver… “Mary, pray that I might obey God’s word today.”6
Friar Jude Winkler comments on the description of the apocalyptic judgement of the universal God of all nations offered by Joel. Faith is greater than biological connections. Friar Jude reminds us of the surrender of Mary to the Will of God in the Incarnation.
In the Francis and the Animals Weekly Summary, Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, summarizes an earlier reflection.
Francis grants all of reality, even elements and animals, an intimate I-Thou relationship. This could be a definition of what it means to be a contemplative, which is to look at reality with much wider eyes than mere usability, functionality, or self-interest—with inherent enjoyment for a thing in itself as itself.7
Our experience of blessedness is awakened as we contemplate how the will of God has unfolded on our journey in life.
References
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