Keep The Word Of God
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Oct 8, 2022
- 4 min read
Keep the word of God. Easier said than done. Yet that is all Jesus tells us we need to do to be blessed, hear and keep the word of God. So why then does this seems to be so hard to do? Why do we find ourselves time and time again in the confessional line? Let us ponder those questions as we read today’s Gospel.
True Blessedness
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!” Luke 11 : 27-28
Scriptural Analysis
Jesus just finished addressing the objection that he drives out demons by the power of Beelzebul. He was preparing to address the second objection, that they need a sign from heaven, when he is interrupted by a woman in the Gospel passage we are presented with today.
A women in the crowd tells Jesus, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked!” In some ways, this is a fulfillment of Mary’s own prophesy about herself, “For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.” (Luke 1 : 48) Of course, Elizabeth points out to Mary the reason why she is blessed, “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:45) The fundamental reason why Mary is blessed is because she received the word of the Angel and believed. As Saint Augustine says, “Mary was more blessed in accepting the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ.” (Holy Virginity 3)
Jesus’s response to the woman echoes Elizabeth’s response to Mary, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” We see this in Mary’s own response to the Angel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) This also draws a comparison to Jesus’s response when he is told that his Mother and brethren were there to see him, “My mother and my brethren are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21) What makes ones blessed is hearing and keeping the word of God. If one does that, then they will inherit the Kingdom of God.
Daily Application
Jesus provides us with a simple formula today for holiness: hear the word of God and keep it. In fact, it is so simple that we are struggle with it mightily. We struggle to hear the word of God and to keep it. Why, why is something that should be so simple for us to do in fact so hard? I think the answer lies in what keeping word truly entails.
To keep the word of God, to really keep it require submission. It requires us to submit completely to the will of God. That means acknowledging that we are not in control but he is. That is difficult for us to do. We like to be in control: especially as American Catholics where our culture is all about empowering self. We like to be the one who gets to decide: who gets to make the rules. Turning the control over to God requires us to do the opposite: to humble ourselves. It can also be a bit frightening. What if he asks me to do something that requires me to step outside my comfort zone? What if I have to make a fool of myself for him? Instead, we keep him at a distance keeping those parts of the word that are easy: talking ourselves out of fully embracing the word.
Keeping the word also requires change. If we are going to submit fully to God’s will then we are going to have to change. For nearly all of us, that means we have to acknowledge that there are those things, those sins, that we still cling to. Deep down, there is part of us that likes our sins. That is why we keep repeating the same ones over and over: finding ourselves in line for confession yet again, repeating the same list. In some ways, those sins have almost become a security blanket and setting them aside can scare us. However, if we are going to completely hear and follow the word then we must set them aside.
While it can seem like both submitting to the will of God and changing means we are losing something, what we gain is so much greater. Our God wants nothing more than for each of us to spend eternity in heaven with him. He has given us a path: hear the word and keep it. Is eternity in heaven not worth that price? Is doing things your way, remaining in your sins worth giving that up?
If you are struggling with this, pray for the grace to change: the grace to hear the word of God and keep it. Take advantage of the sacraments: especially confession and the Eucharist. They will help you grow closer to the Lord and allow you to more easily resist temptation. Finally, stay in the word. Read the Bible. It is God’s love letter to us all. The more you are in the word, the easier it is to hear it and keep it. God will give you what you need to follow the path. The countless Saints who have gone before us are proof. We just need to decide: decide if we are indeed going to strive to keep the word of God.
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