Saturday, October 12, 2013

 “Blessed is the womb that carried you 
and the breasts at which you nursed.”
 Luke 11:27

Blessed is the Womb that Carried You

As a first insight, these two verses are unique to Luke. To think that they are somehow deprecatory of Mary — since she seems to be the unnamed target of Jesus’ remark — is not possible. This is simply because the Gospel according to St. Luke as a whole is strongly Marian. It would be unthinkable that two verses will undo its entire spirit. Then, aside from this, it should be pointed out that there is a somewhat mistaken sense in the statement, brought about (as is often the case) by inaccurate translation. The bone of contention is the word “rather.” A quick check with the original Greek term, menoun, makes us realize that it should be better rendered with the sense “yes, but even more…”

In other words, it is not at all a negative statement against Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is an affirmation of her motherhood but at the same time it opens up to the greater possibility of “surpassing” blood or maternal ties in the truly greater level of fulfilling God’s Word in one’s life. (Kerygma)