"Blessed are you among women!"
Luke 1: 39-45
Word for Sunday: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/122318.cfm
Several years ago the popular National Geographic magazine published a cover picture and story
that caught the eye of many. The special
issue in time for Christmas was entitled: “Mary
– The most powerful woman in the world. Surprisingly this was a story not
on geography or science but on faith.
Mary, the mother of Jesus is labeled “the most powerful woman in the world.” That is an extraordinary
claim on the part of a magazine generally more concerned with science and
nature than biography.
As usual, the article was filled with beautiful and moving
photos of people and places. It takes us
around the world to well-known religious pilgrimage sites concerned with
confirmed Marian apparitions like: Lourdes, Fatima, Guadalupe, Kibeho in Africa
and others. The main focus of the
article I found very moving. The
journalist described the effect of Marian belief on people and culture and
allows the reader to make up their own mind as to its value. For those of us in the Catholic world we find
such writings on Mary comforting and inspiring.
For our other Christian brothers and sisters of various traditions it
may be a bit of a stretch. Yet, I have
heard about various Protestant denominations beginning to refocus their
attention more fully on Mary’s role. Our Moslem community has always honored
Mary as the Mother of the great prophet, Jesus.
However, there is no doubt this simple woman from Nazareth
continues to make a significant difference in the lives of many. Her power is
not one of politics or the military. Her
power is one of obedience, humility, and faith.
On this last Sunday of our Advent journey, the beautiful Gospel
passage from Luke, one of my favorites frankly, takes us to the scene of the
visitation between Mary and her cousin Elizabeth. It is an encounter of great joy. Mary, after being visited by the Angel
Gabriel with his mysterious request, travels south to see her much older cousin
Elizabeth after hearing that although she is beyond child bearing years,
through the grace of God she has conceived a child for the first time.
When they greet each other, the scene is filled with praise and
joy to recognize what God has done for them.
Elizabeth rejoices as she addresses Mary: “Blessed are you among women” then refers to her young cousin as the
“mother of my Lord.” It certainly
does shine a bright light on this simple young maiden from a tiny obscure
village in the north of Israel. It does indeed make her the privileged woman
among all others.
But, this moment is more than just a meeting of two ancient
persons who would have never been known if it were not for their choice by
God. As we draw close to Christmas it
reminds us of the mystery of God’s work in sending his Son among us.
It recalls for us, as Bishop Robert Barron shares, the
invitation of God to participate in the grand “Theo drama.” In other words, the
play or drama that God is directing and his invitation now to Mary and
Elizabeth, to Joseph and Zachariah to take their places on the stage of life
directed by God according to his will.
The tension for us is that we normally feel we need to be our
own director; we participate in the “Ego drama.” I am the director of my own
life, I make my own choices, I freely choose where I go, what I do, and who I
invite to participate in my own life; I call the shots and arrange my players
accordingly. I will invite God to
participate in my life if I so choose. Our
present day culture which is so centered on the individual and my rights and my
freedoms and my free choice surrounds us.
The significance of the Christmas story is that God found individuals
who put their own plans aside and submitted to his will – to his Theo (God)
drama. The same choice is offered to every one of us in our individual unique
way according to how God wishes us to be.
First, God chose to do this.
He didn’t have to do it. That
being said, being the Creator of all things he could have chosen to come anyway
he would like to. He chose to come in
smallness. Not through great and
influential people in the large and dominant Empires of the ancient world. He chose a different course; that of the
simple and obscure. Instead of Jerusalem
or Rome he came to an unknown girl in the tiny village of Nazareth. God
directed this drama from the beginning and continues to do so.
He came to the ancient world through women who at the time were
considered to be powerless and hardly influential in a significant way. So,
this is a God who entered our lives in a fully human way through a simple
mother who became, because of her cooperation with God’s strange request,
“blessed among women.” So, the power which Mary has is the willingness to
submit her will to a much greater force.
He came to invite, to heal and to forgive. To gather back together what was scattered
and broken. All of this was made
possible through the “yes” of this simple girl named Mary. She submitted to God’s direction and great
things happened. She isn’t just a footnote or an afterthought or a temporary
biological means to become a human being.
Mary stands during this Advent season as a direct link of how
God freely chose to come among us – as one like ourselves. She is a maternal
image for all of us and directly leads us to her Son. This coming Christmas
season, we recognize his place as center in our lives in our daily walk, in the
Eucharist we share and in his word but as a family, God has given us a mother
who is a model for every Christian disciple.
The Geographic article has an interesting insight when it
quotes a student of theology named Maria Garcia who wrote: “Mary brings us to
Jesus, who is the light of the world, just as Jewish mothers light the Shabbat
candles. ‘We see the relationship of Mary
with us isn’t just any relationship – it’s sacred.’”
Are you a player in the grand Theo Drama or do I continue to
resist and produce my own Ego centered life?
Mary’s “let it be done” is a
powerful prayer in itself. How
comfortable am I to say the same?
Pour forth, we beseech you , O Lord,
your grace into our hearts,
that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son
was made known by the message of an Angel,
may be his Passion and Cross
be brought to the glory of his Resurrection.
Who lives and reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
(Collect of Sunday)
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