Does Jesus object to Marian veneration in Luke 11:28?

uke 11:28 is a com­mon anti-Mar­i­an proof­text, and our old friend Turre­tinFan—known on this blog as Mr. X—revives it in a recent blog post from July. In Luke’s gospel, a woman approach­es Christ and says, “Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.” Jesus replies, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” The anti-Mar­i­an apol­o­gist claims that, by these words, Jesus rejects Mar­i­an ven­er­a­tion.

Accord­ing to Mr. X, “blessed is the womb that bore thee” is “the ear­li­est record we have of some­thing approach[ing] Mar­i­an ven­er­a­tion.”

Real­ly? The ear­li­est record? Huh. Mr. X seems to have skipped over Luke chap­ter 1. There, in verse 28, the angel Gabriel says to Mary, “Hail full of grace.” Mr. X may have described this more apt­ly as “Mar­i­an veneration”—it being, after all, the verse that Catholics actu­al­ly recite when pray­ing the Rosary. As far as I know, Luke 11:27 does­n’t appear in any Mar­i­an devo­tion at all. But Luke 1:28 does.

That aside, I don’t find Jesus “curb­ing exces­sive rev­er­ence of his moth­er” at all in Luke 11:28. “Blessed rather,” he says, “are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” Hear­ing the word of God and obey­ing it is pre­cise­ly what Mary did. When did Mary not hear the word of God or obey it? Can Mr. X cite an exam­ple of Mary’s dis­obe­di­ence for us?

If those who hear the word of God and obey it are blessed, Mary is blessed. Jesus does not dis­pute that Mary is blessed; he only dis­putes why. She’s not blessed because her womb bore Jesus; she’s not blessed because she nursed Jesus. She’s blessed because she obeyed. “Do what­ev­er he tells you” (John 2:5): those are the words of Mary. We learn obe­di­ence from Mary.

Blessed are those who hear the word of God and do it. Indeed. Amen dico tibi.

Mr. X cites Matthew 12:50 as a com­pan­ion text. Here Jesus says, “Whoso­ev­er shall do the will of my Father which is in heav­en, the same is my broth­er, and sis­ter, and moth­er.”

And? Again: Mary did “do the will of my Father which is in Heav­en.” Catholics say that Mary obeyed more per­fect­ly than any oth­er human being (who was not also God). There­fore, she is blessed above all. Nei­ther Luke 11:28 nor Matthew 12:50 trou­ble us.