Lk 11: 27-28
Gospel of the evening Mass of the Vigil of the Assumption
At that time, as Jesus was speaking to the crowd, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
In addition to the infinite honour of being the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, in the Virgin Mary these words of the Gospel we have just heard are fulfilled to perfection. Listening to the Word of God and putting it into practice is the deepest essence of Mary. This way of listening shows that the Blessed Virgin’s heart is undividedly centred on God and that whatever He entrusts to her, she carries out with joy.
We should accept with great gratitude Mary’s unique vocation to be the Mother of the Redeemer, and then to become the spiritual Mother of all people. “Henceforth all generations will call me blessed” – thus Mary rejoices in God (Lk 1:48), and we join in her song of praise, because the Almighty has done great works in her and His name is holy (cf. v. 49).
Our Lady exercises this spiritual motherhood entrusted to her when we turn to her and ask her to accompany us. She then leads us precisely to that interior school of which the Lord speaks in this Gospel passage: listening to the Word of God and putting it into practice. “Do whatever He tells you” – said Mary to the servants at the wedding feast in Cana (Jn 2:5), and the water was turned into wine. We can also interpret this miracle in a spiritual way… If we listen to God and do what He tells us, everything will be transformed into a delicious wine that will be our daily food. This wine can be drunk without any harm!
Certainly, we do not yet sufficiently understand the infinite love and mercy of our Heavenly Father, and many people do not yet live in the blissful reality of this love.
If we look at the Virgin Mary, we can safely say that there is no other creature who has known God better. If we then ask her to make Him known to us as He really is, she will surely give us the true image of God. Her knowledge of God is so true and so deep that we can rejoice day by day in knowing Him better and better.
Mary is the “beloved daughter of the Father” who always listens to Him with readiness and trust, and follows His ways, even if she does not always know them in detail. “Let it be to me according to your word” was her response when the Archangel Gabriel brought her the message that she would be the Mother of the Messiah (Lk 1:38). We seem to hear here the words of the Lord in Gethsemane: “Not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Mt 26:39). Mary will help us to live in total abandonment to God and to walk in His ways, as she did.
As “Mother of the Son”, her human love for Jesus was pervaded by a supernatural love, to the point that she was able to give her consent to her Son’s Passion, even though a sword had pierced her heart (cf. Lk 2:35). She will help us to purify our human love so that it may be impregnated and moulded by the supernatural love of God. Then our hearts will be enlarged and we will be able to love spiritually, with a universal love that sees all people and cares for their salvation. Then Mary’s heart will beat in us, filled with God’s love.
As the “Spouse of the Holy Spirit”, Mary is intimately united with the Third Person of the Trinity, her divine Spouse. The Holy Spirit not only overshadowed her at the moment of conception (cf. Lk 1:35), but always remained in her, making her His dwelling place and the temple of His glory. All her ways and thoughts were guided by the Holy Spirit, and in her readiness to fulfil even the smallest of the Lord’s wishes, Mary also became the “seat of wisdom”.
We too are called to become “seats of God’s wisdom”, because the Holy Spirit also wants to make our soul a permanent temple of the Lord, unfolding all His gifts and forming us more and more into the image of God. Mary is not only our unsurpassable model, but her jealous love will not rest until we give to the Heavenly Father all the glory and honour due to Him; until we accept her Son as our Saviour and do what He tells us to do; until we willingly open our souls to the work of the Holy Spirit so that we may glorify God and serve Him as His true children.
