"And it was told him: Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.
Who answering, said to them: My mother and my brethren are they who hear the word of God and do it."
Luke 11:27-28,
"And it came to pass, as he spoke these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up her voice, said to him:
Blessed is the womb that bore thee and the paps that gave thee suck.
"But he said: Yea rather, blessed are they who hear the word of God and keep it."
What is happening here? The first impression for some would be that it would seem that Jesus is distancing Himself somewhat from His mother. However, that is not true at all, for the context shows that Jesus was speaking not about His natural immediate family, but about His supernatural or spiritual family, His disciples and followers. In other words, all of those who take up their crosses and follow Him.
His spiritual family are all those "who hear the word of God and keep it."
Now who is the New Testament model who had heard the word of GOD and kept it in faith in all cases?
It was His natural mother and the first member of His spiritual family. It was His first disciple, the Blessed Virgin Mary.
She was the most faithful of all. She was there with Him at His beginning and she was there with Him at the foot of the cross at His death.
Blessed Mary is the model
of motherhood.Well what about His 'faithful' Apostles?
Well if you will recall, one betrayed Him, one denied Him three times, one doubted Him, and all ran away from Him. John did come to the foot of the cross after Jesus had been crucified. However, His Blessed Mother was with Him all the way.
Here are a few examples of the Blessed Virgin's faithfulness to GOD.
1. Luke 1:38,
"And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."
And the angel departed from her."
She had such faith that she immediately accepted this great gift that GOD had bestowed upon her.
This is called her 'Fiat', a Latin word meaning, 'let it Be'. Here, she has established herself as the 'New Eve', by demonstrating her obedience, in contrast to the disobedience of the first Eve, and her humility, in contrast to the pride of the first Eve.
Blessed Mary is the model
of humility.2. Luke 1:39,
"In those days Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country, to a city of Judah,"
In Luke 1:36, she had been told by the Angel Gabriel that her kinswoman, Elizabeth, was pregnant six months in her old age.
Without questioning the details, Mary left 'in haste' to be of assistance to Elizabeth. She knew that a woman of the age of Elizabeth would need assistance in her pregnancy. Mary, pregnant in herself with the GOD of the universe, traveled many miles to assist her.
Blessed Mary is the model
of charity.3. Luke 1:45,
"And blessed art thou that hast believed, because those things shall be accomplished that were spoken to thee by the Lord."
Because she believed,
Blessed Mary is the model of faith.
John 2:3-4
"And the wine failing, the mother of Jesus said to him:
They have no wine.
And Jesus
said to her: Woman, what is that to me and
to thee? My hour is not yet come."
The first impression that one may get from this verse, is that Jesus
acted irreverently towards His mother by calling her 'woman'.
This is not at all the case when Holy Scripture is taken in its full
context.
He called
her 'woman' to show us the
connection between His mother and the 'woman' in the first book
of the Bible (Genesis 3:15),
and later the 'woman' that He would address from the cross (John
19:26-27),
and to the 'woman' with the crown of twelve stars in the last
book of the Bible (Revelation
12:1).
"His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you."
Those were the last words spoken by Blessed Mary in Holy Scripture.
This is her role today. She leads us to her Son and reminds us to, "Do whatever He tells you."
Blessed Mary is
the model of discipleship.©
Compiled by Bob Stanley, March 30, 2007
Many thanks
to Dr. Edward Sri for his insights.
"Have I then become your
enemy, because I told you the truth?"
Galatians
4:16
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