Our Lady of Fatima
LUKE 11:27-28 AND THE BLESSEDNESS OF MARY
Marwil N. Llasos, O.P.
I received a query from a reader and follower on my blog regarding the correct interpretation of Luke 11:27-28.[1] A similar question was posed in The Splendor of the Church blog which Rev. Fr. Abraham P. Arganiosa already answered.[2] Nevertheless, I wish to give my two cents worth to this topic.
Catholics have always considered Luke 11:27-28 as a text that blesses Mary. Anti-Catholics on the other hand considers the text as rebuking Marian devotion. Some even go as much as claiming that they are more blessed than Mary because of what Luke 11:27-28 says. These anti-Catholics couldn’t be more wrong.
"Blessed is the womb that bore you" (Lk. 11:27a).
The New International Version renders Luke 11:27-28 this way:
“As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”
The authorized King James Version renders it:
“And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked. But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.”
Anti-Catholics take “rather” to mean as a particle of contradiction. They say, “No, Mary is not blessed; rather blessed are they …” It is in that sense that the New American Standard Version renders Luke 11:27-28, thus:
“While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
"Blessed are the breasts that nursed you" (Lk. 11:27b)
Anti-Catholics are quick to point out that the "rather" in Luke 11:28 means "on the contrary." This, they say, is a clear proof that Jesus rebukes Marian devotion. With this verse, anti-Catholics are confident that they have shattered to pieces the Catholic case for Marian devotion. They interpret the passage to mean that those who hear the word of God and keep it are much more blessed than Mary (as if Mary herself did not hear the word of God and keep it). But is this interpretation of the text correct? No, it is not. The Greek word used for “rather” in Luke 11:28 is “menoun”:
“autos de eipen menoun makarioi hoi akouontes ton logon tou theou kai phulassontes”
"Blessed are those who hear the word of God" (Lk. 11:28a)
There are various translations of the word menoun. The King James Version translates it as "yea rather" while the Revised Standard Version renders it as "indeed." The Douay-Rheims Version renders it as "furthermore."
How then is “menoun” to be understood? Protestant Bible scholar Margaret E. Thrall studied Greek particles in the New Testament. This scholar cannot be accused of bias toward the Catholic position. Yet, in her study, she suggests the interpretation of “menoun” in Luke 11;27-28 as: “What you have said is true as far as it goes. But the blessedness of Mary does not consist simply in the fact of her relationship towards myself, but (menoun) in the fact that she shares in the blessedness of those who hear the word of God and keep it, and it is in this that true blessedness lies” [Margaret E. Thrall, Greek Particles in the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1962) p. 35].
"... and keep it" (Lk. 11:28b)
The passage, far from downplaying Marian devotion, in fact reinforces it. Jesus makes it clear that Mary is actually "doubly blessed" for being His Mother and for hearing the word of God and keeping it.
Mary is certainly blessed for being the Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ, as affirmed by the Bible when St. Elizabeth praised her as "most blessed among women" precisely because of the "blessed fruit of her womb" (Lk. 1:42, NJB). Mary is furthermore blessed because she heard the word of God: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word" (Lk. 1:38). Mary believed the word of God (and even conceived the Word of God Himself!) as clearly testified to by St. Elizabeth under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: "Blessed is she who believed" (Lk. 1:45). Mary kept the word of God as she "kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart" (Lk. 2: 19, 51).
Mary, Mother of the Word Incarnate
Christians cannot be “blessed” in the sense of any physical or blood relationship with Christ as Mary had with her Son. But we can be surely blessed as Mary was if we, like her, hear the word of God and keep it.
"But be you doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (James 1:22)
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Thanks for posting this Bro. I will post in my blog the second part after Lent.
ReplyDeleteNo problem kuya Marwil...
ReplyDeleteI just want to help spreading the TRUTH...
Thanks for allowing me to RE-Post your articles in your blog.