Mary, Mother of Jesus
Mary, Mother of Jesus
from
Praying with the Women of the Bible
by
Bridget Mary Meehan
wife of Joseph who conceived her baby through the power of the Holy Spirit while she was a virgin. The story of the virgin birth is told in two different places in scripture. Matthew’s Gospel presents the story from the point of view of Joseph. The angel appears before Joseph and tells him, “Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Mt 1:20–21). Luke tells the story from the perspective of Mary. In Luke, the angel appears to Mary saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus” (Lk 1:30–31). Mary asks the angel to explain how this will happen since she is a virgin. Then the angel responds: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God” (Lk 1:35). The accounts of the conception of Jesus in Matthew and Luke are similar. Matthew says that Mary’s child will be conceived through the Holy Spirit, while Luke says he will be conceived through the power of the Most High. Then Mary went to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, who was already six months pregnant. “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, her baby leaped in her womb. She welcomed Mary with great joy,
‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?’” (Lk 1:41–43). Then Mary proclaims her famous hymn of jubilant praise, which has become known as the Magnificat. This prayer emphasizes God’s power and mercy for the lowly and oppressed. Mary remained with Elizabeth for three months and then returned to Joseph. The second chapter of Luke and the first chapter of Matthew recount one of the most popular and beautiful stories in Christianity—the birth of Jesus (Lk 2;1–20; Mt 1:18–25). After the birth of Jesus, the family fled to Egypt to avoid Herod’s persecution. Then they returned to their home in Nazareth where the child grew in strength and wisdom. scripture does not give us a lot of details about their family life. Luke recounts the circumcision, presentation of Jesus in the Temple, and the story of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple (Lk 2:21–52). How did Mary respond to these events? Luke provides a clue: “His mother treasured all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51).1
When Jesus begins his public ministry, Mary shows up on several important occasions. She is with Jesus at the Wedding Feast of Cana. Noticing that the wine supply is dwindling, Mary tells Jesus: “They have no wine” (Jn 2:3). Jesus responds to his mother’s concern that the wedding family be spared embarrassment by changing water into wine, a miracle he clearly never intended. She hastens thereby the public announcement of his prophetic ministry and demonstrates her leadership role in the community. This was, as the gospel points out, “the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him” (Jn 2:11). The Synoptics provide another glimpse of Mary when she
appears one day with Jesus’ brothers and sisters. On that occasion Jesus proclaims that Christian discipleship broadens family bonds. “Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” In other words, for those who live a faith life within the believing community, the bonds of spiritual kinship supersede family ties (Mk 3:31–35; Mt 12:46–50; Lk 8:19–21). But Jesus does not negate his own family tie to Mary. She, above all others, shows herself to be one who “does the will of God.” Mary is with Jesus in his greatest hour of suffering on the cross. “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his home” (Jn
19:26–27). The last mention of Mary is when she was gathered with the disciples in the upper room in Jerusalem. “All these were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, as well as his brothers” (Acts 1:14). Here is Mary with the very men who left her son in his time of greatest need, with one who had served as a leader, but who, when push came to shove, actually denied knowing her son. Here she is with a bunch of cowards (except for John), who were too fearful for their own necks to stand beside her at the cross watching Jesus’ gruesome public execution! When she needed their support, they were not there for her. But in the upper room she is not blaming; she is not condemning; rather she is there with them in the prayer-room, supporting them by her presence when they are feeling most guilty, most blemished, most unredeemable, most forlorn. She is supporting those who have just failed to support her and Jesus! Does that not suggest an amazing depth of insight and compassion? Here Mary’s compassion is commensurate with that of Jesus who kept on saying, as they crucified him: “Abba, forgive them because they don’t know what they are doing!” (Lk 23:34, The Inclusive New Testament).
Throughout the ages, devotion to Mary has been characteristic of the Catholic tradition. As early as the third century, there are drawings of Mary holding the Christ child in the catacombs of Domitilla in Rome. Justin, the martyr, refers to Mary in his writings as the “new Eve.” Some theologians believe that Mariology (devotion to Mary) must be understood in the context of the tremendous need of Christians down the centuries for the “mothering” side of our God who was most often depicted in terms of King, triumphant Lord, Warrior Prince, Great Ruler, and Judge. This distancing of God worsened during the centuries of the Arian heresy, because the divinity of Jesus was overemphasized to counteract the effects of the heresy. Ordinary people were made to feel too sinful and unworthy to approach the divine Jesus, let alone the Godhead. This distancing of the human person from God was reemphasized in church architecture that placed the action of the liturgy behind walls, restricted to a male clergy alone. The job of the laity, laymen and women, on their side of the screen, was to worship in obscurity and pray with humility. God was one before whom we could merely beat our breasts and hope for mercy. In this cold, masculine, religious sphere, the one gentle, redeeming, human person was Mary. Some scholars refer to the unwillingness of early Mediterranean Christianity to let go of the feminine element in religion. Rather, it seems that the human psyche is hungry for the total reality of a God who so cares for us as to create human beings as the pinnacle of God’s birthing of the world. We sustain a natural, psychological, and spiritual need for feminine metaphors that depict such a nurturing, comforting God. Mary was the ever-present, perfect metaphor—although not divine herself
—of the mothering aspect of divinity that human beings craved. In today’s Christian understanding she remains the most perfect icon or image by which we can understand the
mothering side of God.
Contemporary theologians are constructing a new liberating portrait of Mary today which relates to the real life issues of women and which challenges those assumptions that stereotype women as passive and submissive. Anne Carr reflects on the potential of this new consciousness to provide a more integrated understanding of Mary for our times:
Mary as virgin and mother need not be understood as an impossible double bind, an inimitable ideal, but as a central Christian symbol that signifies autonomy and relationship, strength and tenderness, struggle and victory, God’s power and human agency—not in competition, but in cooperation.2
One of the great treasures that can help us contemplate Mary in fresh ways is her prayer of praise, the Magnificat. This song of joy proclaimed by Mary when she met Elizabeth resembles the Song of Hannah, the mother of Samuel (1 Sm 2:1–10). In both prayers, emphasis is on praising God for lifting up the lowly and nourishing the hungry. Women are still the lowliest in many modern societies. There is a sense of women’s solidarity with the lowliest and hungriest, expressed by putting these two songs in the mouths of women.3
In our Catholic tradition no one who is in God’s eternal present is far from us. We experience a connectedness and friendship with Mary and the saints who have preceded us. In praying the Magnificat, we stand with Mary, the simple, teenaged, pregnant but unmarried woman of faith, in her clairvoyant perception of God’s relationship with us, through the strong language of her prayer. In this prayer, Mary is a symbol of strength, comfort, and power for the disinherited and powerless of the world. She is companion, champion, and change-agent for the righteous poor, who will triumph over oppression and experience the justice promised to them by God. Today more than ever we need to discover a larger vision of the liberating power of Mary’s woman-spirit in our midst. As we reclaim Mary as our sister and friend, we will find much in her life that relates to our own hopes, dreams, and struggles, and much that points us to a Mothering God.
“Mary said:
Mary’s Song of Praise/Magnificat
‘My soul proclaims your greatness, O God, and my spirit rejoices in you, my Savior,
for you have looked with favor upon your lowly servant,
and from this day forward
all generations will call me blessed.
For you, the Almighty, have done great things for me, and holy is your Name.
Your mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear you.
You have shown strength with your arm,
you have scattered the proud in their conceit, you have deposed the mighty from their thrones
and raised the lowly to high places.
You have filled the hungry with good things, while you have sent the rich away empty.
You have come to the aid of Israel your servant, mindful of your mercy—
the promise you made to our ancestors—
to Sarah and Abraham
and their descendants forever’”
(Lk 1:46–55, The Inclusive New Testament).
Discussion Starters
1. Reflect on traditional Catholic devotions to Mary. What impact do these devotional practices have on people’s faith?
2. How do you experience Mary as a companion, champion, and change-agent? How has
Mary influenced your spirituality?
3. Reflect on the Magnificat. How is Mary, a poor person, a symbol of strength, comfort, and power for the disinherited and powerless of the world?
4. Do you agree that Mary gave Catholics an opportunity to experience the divine reality in the person of a woman?
Prayer Experience
1. Be aware of tension in your body. Release the tension by breathing relaxation into this area of your body. As you inhale, breathe in your Mothering God’s liberating power. As you exhale, allow this freeing power of God’s nurturing love to flow out of you and fill the oppressed people of the world with justice and peace.
2. A variety of names and images have been used to describe Mary, such as “First Disciple,” “Mother of the Church,” “Ark of the Covenant,” “Model of Openness,” “Queen of Peace,” “Comforter of the Afflicted,” “Cause of our Joy,” “Liberator of the Oppressed,” “Mystical Rose,” and so on. Compose a litany using some of your favorite names or images for Mary. You may select one of these names or images, or create your own, and use it as a mantra or short prayer that you can repeat during times of prayer.
3. Reflect on Mary’s Song of Praise/the Magnificat. Choose one image or concept from this prayer for contemplation. Allow it to sink into the depths of your being. Simply be present in deep love and openness.
4. Invite Mary, a poor person, a symbol of strength, comfort, and power for the disinherited to preach a sermon today to the powerful leaders and institutions that oppress and dominate the powerless of the world. What would this champion of human rights say? How would the powerful respond to her? Invite Mary to be a change-agent for the oppressed of the world. What would this change-agent do for the oppressed? How would they respond? Reflect on ways that you can be a champion and change-agent in the lives of the oppressed people in your family, neighborhood, city, and world.
5. Pray for the needs of your sisters and brothers, the hungriest, poorest and lowliest, who
have not yet learned to cry out for themselves. Cry out to Shaddai* for them. Decide on one step you can take to help them experience liberation and empowerment in their lives.
6. Reflect on Mary as sister and friend. Experience the liberating power of Mary’s woman- spirit touching your life. Share your heart’s longings, hopes, dreams, and struggles with her. Invite her to share her story with you.
7. Find or create a symbol of your relationship with Mary and put it in a prominent place in your home. Reflect on any wisdom, strength, courage, faith, compassion, love, etc. that came to you during this time of prayer. Record your feelings, images, thoughts, insights, decisions in a journal, poetry, art, song, dance, or in some other creative way.
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