Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time
“Blessed are you among women.” These are the words that Elizabeth says to Mary as the two women meet. The woman in the crowd in today’s gospel seems to echo Elizabeth as she calls out, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” However, Jesus’ reply, Mary’s example, and the rest of the visitation scene create a different picture.
Jesus’ reply can almost seem off-putting when taken at first glance. Here is a woman who praised Mary and he seemingly corrects her. Even if you haven’t grown up with a Catholic’s deep respect for Mary, you might at least wonder if Jesus is really following the commandment to honor his mother in his reply. This problem arises if we don’t properly apply Jesus’ “rather.”
Jesus’ reply starts with the word ‘rather,’ setting his words in opposition with woman’s. But to what part of her statement is he opposed? The object of the blessing or the cause of it? The woman is correct to echo Elizabeth in declaring Mary blessed, as are we when we pray a Hail Mary today. But she is wrong to link that blessing to merely her legacy. Elizabeth got it right though when she said, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Or as Jesus puts it, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
Mary was blessed before Jesus healed a single person or preached a word of the sermon on the mount because she was radically open to the Word of God and put her trust in the Lord’s promises. That openness was so great that if involved carrying the Word Himself in her womb. She was unfathomably blessed to be the mother of Jesus, but that was not all there was to it. She was not blessed merely because of her legacy.
In a society where we track hits, shares, likes, and retweets. Where our self-worth can be rattled by the social media reception of our latest posts or sharing. Where our digital legacy can be all consuming, Jesus’ words and Mary stand as a reminder that those things don’t make us blessed. Our blessedness is in our receptiveness and responsiveness. To paraphrase Mother Teresa, “We aren’t called to be successful, but faithful.”
As we chew on the words of Jesus today we should remember that it was Mary’s living of these words that allowed her to bear Christ into the world.
- Spencer Hargadon