Photo, adapted from mariandevotion.org
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And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.
Mary had just
gone through a series of life changing experiences: a visit from an angel
with a perplexing message, an unplanned pregnancy in a socially precarious
situation, a doubting fiancée who had a mysterious change of heart, a strange
but a defining moment during her visit to her cousin Elizabeth, an inconvenient
trip to Bethlehem, uncertainties and hardships surrounding the birth to her
son, and a remarkable visit from the Shepherds who claim to have seen a vision
of angels announcing the birth of her son.
How did this girl-woman cope with this mysterious turn of events?
Given her age and the socio-religious conventions, it must have been a tremendous stress for her. By her social milieu, she was only expected to go along the dictates of a patriarchal society. She had no voice and no choice, just like any other marginalized member of any human organization. She was at the mercy of situation.
Her encounter with the divine, however, allowed her to experience herself in a totally different and liberating way – God’s way. She was affirmed in her blessedness as a woman and in her openness to God. Her feelings of fear and doubt was respected and processed as she strove in humility to be true and authentic as a person. She was given freedom to make a decision for herself. She was not coerce or forced to accept a decision made by the Great Other. She became the Mother of God by her own free will to subject herself to the Plan of God, when she understood and declared that her own personhood finds meaning only in God.
She recognized God’s work in her life though she did not understand everything. But she kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart, in a constant dialogue with God, in constant welcoming and receiving of the mystery as well as giving of herself to the same mystery. Hence, she modelled for us a total human participation in God’s activity which enabled the Eternal Word to unite the Divine and the human in himself.
St. John Eudes said, Christian life is a continuation and fulfillment of the life of Jesus (The Kingdom of Jesus). He also asserted that we are the eyes, the hands, the heart, the mouth of Christ. As we come together in faith, may we, in the same freedom exercised by Mary, give ourselves to the same unity of the Divine and the human as we live our call to be one Body of Christ to the world today!
Given her age and the socio-religious conventions, it must have been a tremendous stress for her. By her social milieu, she was only expected to go along the dictates of a patriarchal society. She had no voice and no choice, just like any other marginalized member of any human organization. She was at the mercy of situation.
Her encounter with the divine, however, allowed her to experience herself in a totally different and liberating way – God’s way. She was affirmed in her blessedness as a woman and in her openness to God. Her feelings of fear and doubt was respected and processed as she strove in humility to be true and authentic as a person. She was given freedom to make a decision for herself. She was not coerce or forced to accept a decision made by the Great Other. She became the Mother of God by her own free will to subject herself to the Plan of God, when she understood and declared that her own personhood finds meaning only in God.
She recognized God’s work in her life though she did not understand everything. But she kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart, in a constant dialogue with God, in constant welcoming and receiving of the mystery as well as giving of herself to the same mystery. Hence, she modelled for us a total human participation in God’s activity which enabled the Eternal Word to unite the Divine and the human in himself.
St. John Eudes said, Christian life is a continuation and fulfillment of the life of Jesus (The Kingdom of Jesus). He also asserted that we are the eyes, the hands, the heart, the mouth of Christ. As we come together in faith, may we, in the same freedom exercised by Mary, give ourselves to the same unity of the Divine and the human as we live our call to be one Body of Christ to the world today!