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.”
REFLECTION
“Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
Mary is truly blessed; she received the Word of God and carried Jesus in her womb.
In the book The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Anne Catherine Emmerich, we read that Mary and her maidservant would go daily to the Way of the Cross in the garden of her home in Ephesus. Imagine being her maid servant, praying and contemplating with Mary at each station renewing the mystery with tears of compassion.
Jesus says "blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
To observe His Word can be hard if our weaknesses incline us to created things. Will we allow ourselves to be condemned if we do not follow His Word, observe it and carry our cross? Pray for hatred of sin--venial and mortal. Be free of them to accept and embrace the crosses that God allows in our lives.
May we be disposed to be attentive to God, His Will and His commands. True blessedness comes when, like Mary, we can say with our lives: “Lord, I hear You. I trust You. Let Your Word be fulfilled in me.”
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