Tuesday - Mary Always Did God's Will

 

 “My mother and my brothers are those, who hear the word of God, and act on it.”

Our Lord uses these words for a double purpose. The first purpose is to praise His Mother for always doing God’s will because She heard the Word of God and always acted on it. The Virgin Mary never once sinned in Her life and always did the Father’s will perfectly. When She heard the angel Gabriel speaking on behalf of God, She acted on it and said, “Be it done unto me, according to thy word.” And at that moment the Holy Spirit came down upon Her, Jesus entered Her womb and She became the Mother of God. Her whole life was a constant yes, Jesus, the Eternal Word. She most especially did God’s will, as She faithfully stood at the foot of the Cross. In Her Heart, She understood it was God’s will to be with Her Son in His great moment of suffering and to bear that pain in Her Heart. She acted on it by being faithful to Him in the most difficult manner possible, watching Her Son be tortured and killed on the Cross.

The second purpose for Jesus using these words is to let all know that anyone who hears the Word of God and acts on it, are His mother and brothers to Our Lord because they are imitating the Virgin Mary. Our Lord wants us to imitate His Mother in doing God’s will. He wants us to come to know God’s will and act on it.

We know God’s will by the ordinary duties of our state in life. For example its God’s will that spouses be the best spouse they can be; parents to be the best parents they can be; children to be the best children; brothers and sisters to do the best they can in their life; the same is true for those who have a job, to do our job to the best of our ability; at home to keep the house clean; to take care of our health; to also do God’s will in our spiritual life such as to daily pray; to attend Mass on Sunday; daily read scripture, to learn about our faith; to be a good Christian; for every Christian to be a faithful son and daughter of the Church by following the rules and teachings of the Church as the Church desires of us. To forgive others and to be a good disciple of the Lord following the way of life He points out to us.
God’s will is easily seen in the ordinary duties of our state of life. God wants us to do the best of everything for love of Him because by doing so, we are hearing the Word of God and acting on it.

Today, if we want to be the spiritual members of Jesus’ family (brothers, sisters and mothers of Jesus), let us do our best to act on the Word of God by following the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of the Eternal Word, always seeking His will and performing it with love, care, attention, no matter the sacrifice.

As St. Elizabeth Ann Seton used to say: “The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will.”