When a woman in the crowd blessed Jesus’ mother he replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” This is not to say that Jesus’ mother was not blessed. It was a statement that biology did not define blessedness. This was a startling statement for a Jew to make. Since the return of the exiles (at the insistence of Ezra) careful attention was paid to keep foreigners from bringing their ungodly ideas into the Jewish faithful; hence, the careful monitoring of heritage. In our day we find that even among those peoples who have a Catholic culture (e.g. Irish, Hispanics) there is an erosion of the faith. Not heritage but fidelity to the word of God makes for blessedness.
