![]() ![]() How did Mary assimilate the words of her Son into her very being? The key is in her fiat. Not only did she bear him in her womb physically until the fullness of time, but her whole life bears the marks of someone who incarnated the entirety of his words. Here Jesus affirms his mother as blessed because she heard, received and obeyed the word of God. When an over-eager admirer shouted out, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that you sucked,” without missing a beat, Jesus responds, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:27-28). No one exemplifies the obedience of faith more perfectly than Our Lady. Unapplied knowledge leads to self-deception resulting in destruction. Do you see the difference? One heard and did. ![]() ![]() Interpreting this illustration for us, Jesus continues, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock … Everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand” (Matthew 7:24-28, emphasis added). After a fierce storm, only one house remained because its foundation stood firm. The wise man built his house on a solid foundation of rock while the foolish man built his on sand. Jesus further illustrates this with a parable of two builders-one wise, the other foolish. Herein lies the secret to self-deception. In short, he heard the word of God without doing the word of God. What I should have been doing was studying the Bible, applying it to my own heart and life and then giving it to the people.” The fallen friend’s sincere response speaks to each of us, “What I was doing was … only studying the Bible for sermons.” Picking up his Bible, he ran his fingers across the pages reiterating, “I was studying the Bible and giving a sermon. Astonished and dismayed, a fellow pastor and dear friend approached him humbly and honestly, “How could you do that? How can you live with that inconsistency where you are preaching the word of God, but living so incongruently? How can you handle that?” When the scandal surfaced, he was disciplined and dismissed from active ministry. Unbeknownst to those around him, however, he was living a double life embroiled in adultery. There once was a successful megachurch pastor renowned for his brilliant and inspiring preaching. “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only deceiving yourselves.” James 1:22-25 ![]()
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