I was at a Wal-Mart one day years ago, rushing to buy a few things I need, not paying much attention to the other shoppers when a woman with a small child came up to me and asked, "Would you like to know about Jesus?" I didn't want to be rude, but I was in kind of a hurry, so I replied, "Thank you! I do know about Jesus!" and then walked to another aisle for something else I needed.
I was impressed with her enthusiasm and obvious love for Jesus Christ and the example she was setting for her child as an evangelist. I'm not sure I have the courage to walk up to complete strangers and ask them if they know about Jesus. This woman and her child reminded me so much of the woman in Luke’s Gospel!
Although the Gospel reading is brief, it bears a host of conditions. The "Word of God" in Christ's statement refers to Himself, sent into the world to show us that it is obedience to God's Word that conquers evil and achieves true peace on earth.
Peace, however, comes at a cost to "self", because it is based upon love that requires self-denial and self-giving. Love also requires another difficult condition. Since God forgives our many transgressions, He requires us to do the same for others who have sinned against us. Holding grudges and seeking vengeance only prolongs and intensifies a hatred and anger that is as harmful to our own minds and bodies as to our enemies'. Love is the basis of God's law fulfilled by reconciliation and the rebuilding of injured relationships; but better still, by our never doing harm to another.
How sincerely and simply that unknown woman raised her voice to praise the mother of Jesus. I'm sure that from heaven, Mary has become close to her! And I'm sure that Mary in no way resented the response of her Son--for Mary's whole life was a meditation on the words of the Angel Gabriel, and a living out of the plans of Providence. Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it!
With our work ethic, we are so intent on measuring success in terms of action, while God measures success in terms of faith, hope and love. It is far more important for God to see the intentions of our hearts, and to measure the value of our service in terms of His own unconditional love for us. Without in any way diminishing the greatness of His mother, He greatly increases it by identifying the source of its power--doing always the Will of the Father, even when it seems contradictory to one's vows--in Mary's case, that of virginity. And God blessed her for her blind trust--and graced her with both virginity and motherhood.
If only we could saturate our hearts with the Word of God, putting His Will before our own plans and ambitions, then we too would be blessed beyond measure with the praise of Jesus and the reward of God the Father.
It may help to recall that the daily prayer of Jews was, and still is, the Shema (“Hear!”), from the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4-5: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” So the whole of the life of the covenant could be summarized in the phrase “to hear the word of God and live it out.” Mary exemplified that kind of deep hearing—a total response to the word of God expressed in the Torah. It was the readiness of that deep hearing that enabled her to become His mother in the first place.
In the 9th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we have the vision of the transfiguration, where Peter, James and John first see and hear Moses and Elijah (who represented the Law and the Prophets who mediated the word of God to Israel) speaking with Jesus; then those two disappear and Jesus is standing alone, when the voice of the Father is heard to say, “This is My beloved Son, hear Him!”
For us, Jesus is the word of God. We imitate Mary by hearing and following Jesus. That’s what this business of daily reflection (on the word of God about the Word of God) is all about. Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.
Sometimes we lose our sense of awe for the divine, and we need to “bestir [our]selves” (Joel 4:12) from time to time. While we may find comfort in our familiar patterns and think that surely God doesn’t mind, some of those patterns are not pleasing. Our ways fall short of God’s ways; our thoughts fall short of God’s thoughts.
The prophet Joel projects hopeful messages designed to encourage and uplift. (Joel 4:12-21) First, judgment will set things right. We who live in the tension of the present age can identify with a desire for relief from evil and injustice that occur all around us. We can look forward to having God set things right, particularly when we seem unable to do so on our own.
Second, even in the midst of setting things right, we are told that “the Lord is a refuge to his people.” This is a good thing. If we are truly honest, we recognize that we are sometimes part of the problem that needs correcting; we need things to be set right in our own relationships and attitudes. The enduring love of God is a source of great comfort, particularly when we know that we share the infirmity of our fellow humans, who are likewise made of dust. Yet God still chooses us and if we respond to the call, He will even send us, flawed as we are, to convey His love to the world.
Calling down justice to rectify the faults of others may make us feel good for a time, but it is fraught with peril. Sometimes it may even be like calling an artillery strike on your own position. Be prepared to hear the Word of the Lord and to observe God's Word. Psalm 97 promises that "light dawns for the just; and gladness, for the upright of heart."
This involves doing, but it also involves contemplating the living Word, who perfectly reflects the Father’s love. Through doing so, we may be more likely to set things right, both in our own lives and in the world around us that we encounter daily. Listen for the call of the Lord!
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