LIVING WATERS
For the proclamation of the Gospel and the edification of the Body of Christ
Who Are the Blessed?
Jesus is teaching the crowds. They are all listening to him in ecstasy. They have never heard a man speak like this! Out of his mouth comes a river of words of wisdom that answers the needs of all men. Suddenly, a woman raises her voice among the other voices of admiration and amazement:
- Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts you sucked!
All are silent. What the woman said has been in the hearts of all the women gathered there before; she interprets them all. Who wouldn't have wanted to have such a child? They are all waiting for a response. What will be the one that corresponds to such a legitimate and unquestionable expression of praise? Then His voice is heard clear and firm:
- But blessed are those who hear the word of God, and keep it.
Bewilderment. Astonishment. What a strange response! It is that the gaze of men rests on concrete and external things. The astonishment that this Man produces is translated into praise for the mother who bore him and the breasts he sucked. However, the Lord makes every gaze rise to look at God. Man's tendency is to deify the external associated with God. On the other hand, God's interest is to reach the heart of man.
This woman considered the mother of Jesus as blessed. Others would later consider happy those who touched Jesus; later those who had a piece of the wood of his cross or a handful of the earth he walked on would be happy. External things associated with God, but which do not have a transcendent, spiritual, transforming value. To endorse the object is typical of vain and useless religion that does not save, that does not fill the emptiness of the soul.
Those who are blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it. They have found the joy of knowing God, believing in him and loving him. They have given importance to what really has importance.