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Many Catholics have been taught to refer to Mary
as the Blessed Mother. Perhaps the passage in chapter eleven of Luke is the
basis for referring to Mary as Blessed. This following passage in chapter
eleven has similarities to Jesus' statement in chapter eight.
While he was speaking, a woman from the crowd called
out and said to him, "Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts
at which you nursed." He replied, "Rather, blessed are those who hear the
word of God and observe it."
Mary is called Blessed because of her
faithfulness to hearing and living by the word of God. Jesus is emphatic
about this requirement to be his disciple. Among those following and
learning spiritual wisdom from Him is his mother. Her blessedness started
many years before these incidents in Jesus' ministry, but highlighted here.
In both these incidents Jesus lays a foundation for future disciples as to
an essential ingredient in being a disciple. Some of us may be uncomfortable
calling Mary a disciple because of her maternal privilege. However, we
should point out that this is an important insight offered by the Second
Vatican Council when writing about the importance of Mary.[14] Every
Christian disciple can be called blessed when the word is heard and lived.
As we move beyond Jesus' central thought about
discipleship from Luke we move on to the Gospel of John. Two familiar
passages, Mary at Cana and Mary at the foot of the cross, provide for us
further considerations of Mary as Disciple.
The story of Cana is found in John 2:1-12.
Christians know well the story because Jesus performs his first miracle
turning water into wine. As the story opens, Mary is mentioned, not by name
but as the mother of Jesus. She is the one who makes the observation that
there is no wine and informs Jesus of the situation. In response, Jesus does
not use her name, but calls her woman. These two titles used for Mary may
indicate a more universal symbolic understanding of Mary.[15] Perhaps Jesus'
response and treatment of his mother is puzzling to us today. However, when
we investigate the references to women presented in the gospel of John, we
see that in each situation where there is a rebuke, "the woman comes to
believe more deeply in the person of Jesus and she follows through on his
word."[16] John implies here that Mary is a disciple like several of the
other women mentioned in the gospel.
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