ACC ~ Mark 3 v31 - 35

OVERVIEW:

Mary was more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. She was blessed because she kept the Word of God, not merely because she gave birth. Mary’s closeness to Jesus as a natural mother would have been little help for her salvation if she had not borne Christ in her heart. From this passage we learn to view earthly kinship in relation to heavenly kinship (AUGUSTINE). To the Lord’s family belong all who do the will of the Father (PSEUDO-CLEMENT).

3:32 | His Mother and His Brothers Came

ORDERING THE RELATION TO FAMILY

AUGUSTINE: It is he who said that no one belongs to his family except those who do the will of his Father. To be sure, he graciously included Mary herself in this number, for she was doing the will of his Father. Thus he spurned the earthly name of his mother in comparison to heavenly kinship. … Do not be ungrateful, pay your duty of gratitude to your mother, repay earthly favors by spiritual ones, temporal by eternal ones. LETTER 243, TO LAETUS. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0262, 243.57.9.576.3; FC 32:224-25**.

3:34 | Here Are My Mother and My Brothers!

BELONGING TO THE FAMILY

PSEUDO-CLEMENT: Let us then praise him, not with the mouth only, but from the heart, so that he may accept us as sons. For the Lord said, “My brothers are those who do the will of my Father.” [1] So let us do the will of the Father who called us, that we may live peaceably within this family, where our inclination [2] shall be the pursuit of virtue. 2 CLEMENT 9.10-10.1. [3]

[1] Mt 12:50; Lk 8:21.

[2] Above all earthly commitments, including domestic duties.

[3] TLG 1271.002, 9.10.1-10.1.2; LCC 1:197**.

3:35 | Whoever Does the Will of God Is My Brother, Sister, Mother

WHETHER MARY WAS CLOSER TO HIM AS PARENT OR BELIEVER

AUGUSTINE: What else does he here teach us, than to prefer to kinship “after the flesh” our descent “after the Spirit.” [1] He teaches that persons are united by nearness of spirit to those who are just and holy, and that by obeying and following they cleave to their teaching and conduct. Therefore Mary is more blessed in receiving the faith of Christ than in conceiving the flesh of Christ. For to the one who said, “Blessed is the womb, which bore you!” he himself answered: “Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it.” [2] Concerning his own brothers, his own relatives after the flesh, who at first did not believe in him, [3] he found dubious advantage in being their kin. As for Mary, her nearness as a mother would have been little help for her salvation if she had not borne Christ in her heart in a more blessed manner than in the flesh. [4] ON VIRGINITY 3. [5]

[1] Cf. Rom 8:1-5; Gal 4:29.

[2] Lk 11:27-28.

[3] Jn 7:4.

[4] Mt 3:8-10; Lk 11:27-28; Rom 9:1-8.

[5] Cetedoc 0300, 3.237.5; GMI 74**.

THE GROUND OF MARY’S BLESSEDNESS

AUGUSTINE: She did the Father’s will. It was this in her that the Lord magnified, not merely that her flesh gave birth to flesh. … When he said, “Blessed are they who hear the Word of God and keep it,” [1] he was in effect saying: “My mother whom you have called blessed is blessed for the reason that she keeps the Word of God, not that the Word was made flesh in her and dwelt among us, [2] but that she keeps the very Word of God through which she was made and which was made flesh in her.” TRACTATE ON JOHN 10.3.2. [3]

[1] Lk 11:28, in response to the exclamation “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts that nursed you.”

[2] Jn 1:14.

[3] Cetedoc 0278, 10.3.8; FC 78:214**.