Blessed Virgin Mary 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Joel 4: 12-21

 Rise up, O peoples, and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, nations.

Bring a sickle for the harvest is ripe; come and tread for the wine press is full and the vats overflow, so great is their wickedness! Multitudes and more multitudes in the Valley of Verdict! The day of Yahweh is near in the Valley of Verdict!   The sun and the moon become dark, the stars lose their radiance.  

Yah­weh roars from Zion and raises his voice from Jeru­salem; heaven and earth are shaken. Indeed Yahweh is a refuge for his people,a strong­hold for the Israelites.   You will know that I am Yahweh, your God, dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain. Jerusalem will be a holy place, and foreigners will never pass through there again.

 On that day the mountains shall drip wine and the hills flow with milk; all the streams of Judah will run with water and a fountain will spring from the House of Yahweh, and water the valley of Shittim.

 On the other hand, Egypt will be devastated and Edom will become a deserted wasteland because they committed violence against Judah, and shed innocent blood in their country.  But Judah will be inhabited forever, and Jeru­salem through all generations.   And I shall avenge their blood and not leave it unpunished, for Yahweh dwells in Zion.

 

 Ps  97 Rejoice in the Lord, you just!

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

 Luke 11: 27-28

 As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to him, “Blessed is the one who gave you birth and

nursed you!”  Jesus replied, “Truly blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it as well.”

 

Reflection gospel：

“ TRULY BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD, AND KEEP IT AS WELL.”

Khalil Gibran says to parents, “ you are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth.” In other words there is a close link between parents and children. What we see in children (arrows) mirrors where they came from (bows) and under what manner of upbringing, whether disciplined or lax, they were formed.

Hence, when children have grown to become successful and to become somebody in society, thanks to parents. This must have been in the mind of the woman who praised the one who” gave….birth and nursed” Jesus, meaning his mother, Mary.

Jesus must have impressed her a lot and admired his mother as blessed for having produced a good son. I don’t see anything wrong in this judgment. It is also a dictate of justice to recognize good parents and thank them for rearing and nurturing their children to become good people.

Good personality reflects good upbringing. Good children reflect good parents. But Jesus picked this up and taught a more insightful lesson: one is more blessed when doing what is good and producing what is good comes from hearing and observing God’s Word.