The Catholic Calendar for Saturday, October 14, 2006
Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
St. Callistus I, pope and martyr
Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
Galatians 3:22-29
Psalm 105:2-3, 4-5, 6-7
Luke 11:27-28
A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:
"Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it . . . . ” (Luke 11:28)
A very short gospel reading today that could serve for food for reflection for a great many days.
Mary is blessed not merely because she gave birth to Jesus and nurtured Him. Jesus himself points this out in this passage. The woman in the crowd says to Jesus, "Your mother is most blessed." And that is true--His mother is blessed among women, and we have it affirmed here. Jesus seems to deny this, but what He does is shift the focus to Mary's true virtue and the capability of all of us. Mary was blessed not merely because she was a mother, but because in the face of tremendous fear and tremendous social pressure, she said "Yes" to the word God spoke to her. This is the root of her blessing which blesses all of us.
The womb and the breasts are important because without them there would be no Jesus, but even more important was the "Let it be done unto me as you say." Without that yes, there also would be no Jesus.
The Blessed Mother is blessed by hearing and obeying, and so Jesus points out, we all are blessed by hearing and obeying. We are all brought to God and to holiness by saying "Yes" to His word. So Jesus affirms His mother's great holiness and blessedness by pointing to the actions that would lead, in turn, to our own blessedness.
- JuandelaCruz
(sriddle415 at yahoo dot com)
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posted by Steven at 7:25 PM 
20061014
