At one of my recent Third Order Secular Franciscan ongoing formation gatherings, this passage from Luke 11:27-28 came up:
As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
Here Jesus tells us something important, that more important than giving birth and nursing to be blessed, is hearing the word of God and obeying it. In other words, reading the Gospel and being doers of the Gospel is the way to be blessed.
All around me are young women proclaiming their blessedness because they were able to give birth to a little one or multiple little ones. I’m sure you witness this as well in your own lives. Family = blessedness for many young women.
If you’re like me and haven’t been given the ability to have a family, you may wonder: Maybe I’m not blessed in God’s eyes.
But Jesus doesn’t say that does He? In Jesus’ eyes, we’re blessed or not blessed not because we can or can’t give birth to children, but rather because we hear and do what He tells us to do. The whole of Jesus’ life teaches us that doing God’s will is what’s most important.
Did Jesus get married? No. Did Jesus have a family? No. Did Mary have tons of kids and as a result is she less blessed? No. Is Mary’s value only in her physical motherhood? No. It’s also in her fiat and spiritual motherhood.
Ladies, life will try to tell you that you aren’t blessed if you’re not a biological mom and have a large beautiful family. But I’ll tell you today that Jesus says differently. If you hear His words and put them to action in your life, you are indeed blessed in His eyes. In other words: Be fruitful in what matters to God!
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