Luke 11:27-28

Galatians 3:22-29

Psalm 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7

Luke 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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, bless me today as I hear your Word and strive to observe it. I am your child, and I desire your fatherly blessing with all my heart. Teach me to be an obedient child who seeks to please you in all that I do today.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Blessed Mother: In the Gospel of Luke, Mary declares that all generations will call her “blessed” (Luke 1:48). Just as Elizabeth called her “Blessed” because of her faith (Luke 1:45), Jesus calls his mother “blessed” because of her attentive hearing of the Word of God and her faithful observance of it. The woman in the crowd interrupted Jesus as he was speaking. Jesus was answering two objections to his work. The first objection was that he was working in league with the devil. The second demanded a heavenly sign to test him. The interruption allowed Jesus to point to the example of his mother as one who worked with God and did not demand heavenly signs. Unlike Zechariah, who demanded a sign from the Lord to confirm Gabriel’s message, Mary demanded no sign. Mary, as Jesus points out, is blessed in many ways. Not only is she graced as the mother of the Messiah, but she is graced because she heard and observed God’s holy Word. The seed of God’s Word did not fall on bad soil but found fertile soil in Mary. Mary welcomed God’s Word in faith and put it into practice in love.

2. The Old Law as a Disciplinarian: Paul, in his Letter to the Galatians, has just argued that justification comes through faith in Jesus and not through the law of Moses. This raises an important question: if the law cannot justify us, then why was it given to Israel? Paul responds that the Law was given to heighten Israel’s awareness of sin. In many ways, the Law acted as a temporary disciplinarian. This alludes to the practice of the Greeks who charged a household slave with the moral formation of the children of the family. “This tutelage normally lasted from the time the child was a minor until he reached maturity. The tutor would accompany the youth to and from school, supervise his daily activities, protect him from dangers, and administer discipline whenever necessary. Paul used this familiar custom to explain how the Mosaic Law served a similar function in Israel. It was an instructor and guide for the nation, yet one that was temporary and destined to pass away” (Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 337).

3. Children of God: Before the coming (advent) of Jesus Christ, the people of Israel were under a disciplinarian or tutor. Through Jesus, they were able to become children of God. Israel was freed from the supervision and restraints of the Mosaic Law to embrace the full inheritance awaiting it in the New Covenant (see Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament, 337). We become children of God not through the old rite of circumcision (according to the old Law of Moses) but through the new rite of baptism (according to the new Law of Christ). Paul refers to the ancient liturgical practice of the newly baptized putting on a white garment to symbolize their purity in Christ. He also teaches that baptism unites peoples from all nations into the one family of God.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you have brought me into your family. I recognize that I need to learn from you how to be a better child of God and how to be a better sibling to my brothers and sisters. Guide me always along the path of true holiness.

Living the Word of God: How am I welcoming God’s Word? Do I let it inform my way of thinking, speaking, and acting? Am I looking at things in politics and the news from God’s wise perspective? How can I judge things as a child of God rather than a child of the world?