Saturday – 27th Week in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 11:27-28

A Little Respect

Greek Orthodox Church of Annunciation, Nazareth

It wasn’t that long ago that I reflected on the moment when we realized that our parents actually had a real name, not just Mom or Dad.  But God help us if we ever tried addressing them by their given name.  Talk about disrespect!  Talk about a punishment waiting to happen!

And yet today’s Gospel has Jesus seemingly disrespecting His own mother.  The woman who bore Him and gave birth to Him in a stable, who encouraged Him at the wedding feast at Cana, who follows Him all the way to the foot of the Cross.  But there is a point here.  Mary is not blessed merely because she carried Him in her womb.  She is blessed because she heard the Word of God and responded to it.  It is because she said “Yes” to Gabriel and then spent her life in observance of that “Yes”.

We hear a lot of things every day.  We hear the Word of God at Mass.  We respond, in words throughout the course of the Liturgy.  But Jesus calls us to respond in action, in the lives we live when we step out of the church.  Words are not enough!  Real respect, respect for our Father in Heaven, comes from our observance of the Word, from how we act with others.  Jesus reminds us today that, yes, family is important; our mothers are important.  But the family of God, our community of faith, is even greater!  Blessed are those who hear the Word of God our Father and observe it today and every day.

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