Marian worship

Luke 11:27-28

         As he said this, 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!"

         Gotta love some of these translations, they make you wonder. Somehow I never thought the word "sucked" would be in the Bible. I'm pretty sure the original text was an aramaic word for nursed or a variation of  'fed at the breast of'  but surely not "sucked". If you know anything about me from this fledgeling blog, you know I love to look at original words and what they have managed to be translated into.  But I digress.

         For many years until my mom died, I sent a thank you card to her on my birthday. Just a reminder of  the love and  sacrifice she made to bring me into this world. It seems like a perfectly great idea, perhaps more so these days.

         I have always had a special attraction to Mary, the mother of Jesus. Some, especially in the Catholic church have devotion that almost exceeds their love for her son. This may have gotten a bit out of hand but the truth is, there are very practical reasons to hold Mary in high regard. Mary is the quintessential Jewish mother.  But it wasn't all that easy. As a young Jewish girl, she is asked by God to carry Jesus while betrothed to Joseph. That is, they had not been intimate yet which was forbidden before marriage. So becoming pregnant was no small matter. Mary's willingness to say "yes" to God really put her life in peril. She could very easily expect that Joseph would leave her and that there would be a fine stoning waiting for her.  Let's be realistic here, would we say yes to God if  we could easily expect such a horrid outcome? Mary had faith, Mary loved God. She risked it all for her love of God, for her love of her impending son. I aspire to such faith. I think that is one of the reasons I had a special attraction to her.

          I have often remarked that when God wants you do something he taps you on the shoulder and that if you ignore God, he comes back and taps you again - with a baseball bat.  I aspire to be a person who carefully listens to God and what He wants me to do (so he doesn't have to come back with that baseball bat). I think writing this blog is one thing he wants me to do. To give hope to gay men and women. To help all  people know their inherent goodness and that their happiness is searching for who they are, accepting who they are and recognizing the beauty in all of Gods creations. Not an easy thing to do. It involves listening, praying, self study and being a person of action.

          Mary listened and risked it all. Are willing to listen to God? Are you willing to put God's will before your own wants and desires? Just some things to think about.

          Hail Mary.