Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today's Scripture

At certain times, we are profoundly reminded that God’s ways are not our ways. When my wife and I had just gotten married, settled into a new house, and neither of us were earning a livable income having a baby did not seem to be a wise move. But having a baby was part of God’s plan for our family. To many humans this appears to be poor planning, but, as Jana Bennett put it so nicely in yesterday’s reflection, God is not human. His ways are not our ways and sometimes we need a sharp reminder of that every once in a while.

Today’s readings provide precisely that reminder. In the prophecy from Joel, the nations who have conquered Israel stand before God on the day of judgment. On earth, those with the strongest arms are victorious, to them go the land and the spoils. However, as these victors stand before God, they are punished, not rewarded. The victorious are not those with the most powerful armies, but those who serve God. Though Israel is rewarded here, there are many places, especially in the prophetic books, where Israel is or will be punished for its failure to serve God. This is God’s justice. So when the psalmist cries out, “Rejoice in the Lord, you just!” (Ps 97:12a), he means those who are just before the Lord, that is those who serve God; they should rejoice.

It seems to us so often that those who have a certain level of human power and security should rejoice, for they can avoid harm. If one is financially secure, he or she will avoid all sorts of hardships. If one has a pistol tucked under the bed, one will be safe from intruders. All of this makes perfect sense to us humans. But God is not a human. To return to my example, it would seem silly to have a child without a blanket of financial security firmly in hand. However, God’s ways are not human ways.

As He does in many places, Jesus pushes this message in an even more challenging direction. In human terms, we think of the family as those who are closest to us. Therefore, we would think that Jesus would hold His mother as more important than anyone else. In a moment of surprise, Jesus says in today’s gospel: “blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it” (Lk 11:28). Who are those that are the kin, the brothers and sisters of Jesus, the sons and daughters of God? All of us who are His true disciples, that is those who hear the word of God and observe it.

Mary holds a prominent place in heaven, not simply because she was Jesus’ mother, but rather she was Jesus’ mother because she heard the Word of God through the angel Gabriel and observed it, saying “Let it be done to me according to Your will.” She is a model for us because she struggled to understand God’s message, asking how it was possible that she be a mother without a human father and ultimately gave her will over to God’s. She understood that God’s ways are not human ways.

Let us take Mary as an example and struggle to understand God’s word being spoken in our lives because only after we understand (in some measure!) what God is doing, can we proceed to “observing it” or living it.

 
- Tim Gabrielli