You know that moment when someone gives a compliment and the recipient gracefully redirects it? That's exactly what happens in this beautiful little exchange from Luke's Gospel. A woman in the crowd, moved by Jesus's teaching, calls out a blessing on his mother: "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed!" It's such a maternal, tender exclamation, and honestly, who could blame her? But Jesus, in his wisdom, doesn't just accept the praise. He elevates it to something even greater: "Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it."
Here's what strikes me about Jesus's response: he's not dismissing his mother. The Church has always understood that Mary is the first and greatest example of what Jesus is describing. She heard God's word at the Annunciation and said yes with her whole being. She pondered God's word in her heart. She stood at the foot of the cross, faithful to the end. Mary's true blessedness wasn't just biological; it was her complete surrender to God's will. As St. Augustine beautifully put it, Mary was more blessed to carry Christ in her heart than in her womb.
What Jesus is really doing here is extending an invitation to all of us. We don't have to be Jesus's biological mother to share in the kind of blessedness Mary experienced. Every single one of us is called to hear God's word and keep it, to let it take root in our lives and transform us from the inside out. This is the heart of discipleship, not just listening to Scripture on Sunday and forgetting it by Monday, but allowing God's word to become living and active in our daily choices, our relationships, our struggles, and joys. It's about letting God's truth shape who we are becoming.
So the question for us becomes deeply personal: Are we truly hearing God's word, or is it just background noise? Are we keeping it, treasuring it, living it out? This passage reminds us that authentic faith isn't passive, it's an active, ongoing response to God's invitation. Like Mary, we're called to say our "yes" again and again, in big moments and small ones. That's where real blessedness is found: not in applause or recognition, but in the quiet, steady faithfulness of a heart aligned with God's will. And that's an invitation open to every one of us, right here, right now.
©2025 James Dacey, Jr., OFS
