Today’s Scripture Readings

While he was saying this, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!’ But he said, ‘Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!’

In this brief yet powerful exchange, Jesus reminds us that true blessedness is not found in status, admiration, or by association, but rather in obedience to God’s Word. The woman in the crowd recognised the greatness of Jesus and praised His mother—a common Jewish act of admiration. Yet Jesus gently redirected her focus, and ours, to a deeper truth: that the path to blessedness is not admiration but surrender through hearing and obeying God’s Word.

Help us, Lord, to be people who don’t just hear Your Word but live it. Give us hearts that are open to Your voice and wills that are ready to follow. We can admire faith from afar, but You call us into the work of discipleship—daily obedience, humble listening, and consistent action.

Mary was indeed blessed—not just because she gave You birth, but because she said ‘yes’ to God. May we also say ‘yes,’ in both quiet moments and loud ones, when it’s easy and when it costs everything.

Lord, we don’t want to be merely spectators of Your truth. Make us doers. Plant Your Word deep in us and give us the grace to obey it with joy. Amen.