MARY - The Mother of Jesus

Who do you say that SHE is?

The FIC Brothers declare, “Mary is our inspiration and our Patroness”. The Brothers are happy to place their lives under her special protection. The consecration of her life to the service of her Son, her preference for the poor and needy, her longing for justice and righteousness, and her faithfulness to her Son until Calvary despite all her doubts and uncertainties, are some of her personal qualities that the Brothers want to be inspired by.

From the Scriptures and some writers we may have learned that: While she was a young girl living in a small town in Galilee called Nazareth, she responded positively to the invitation of God to risk her life. God, through the Angel Gabriel, invited her to conceive in her womb and bear a son and that she should name him Jesus, who would be great and would be called Son of the Most High. It was not all that clear for Mary to understand how possible the invitation was. She knew very well of herself: already betrothed to Josef and had no knowledge of man. Yet being a religiously devoted person, and having heard that her cousin Elizabeth also, in her old age and people called her barren, had conceived a son, and believing that “nothing is impossible to God”, Mary said yes to the invitation. She said: “You see before you the Lord’s servant, let it happen to me as you have said” to the Angel.

The first risk that Mary had to face was the possibility of being divorced by her husband Joseph. Fortunately an Angel of the Lord informed Joseph about what Mary had conceived in her and encouraged him to take her home as his wife. Later Joseph had to take with him the child Jesus and his mother to escape into Egypt, because Herod intended to search for the child and to do away with him. This flight to Egypt can also be seen as part of the risk.

We can imagine that Mary, in her day to day life as a mother, was very close and intimate to her son, Jesus. Yet it seemed that she did not readily understand everything that happened with Him. “… a sword will pierce your soul too …” prophesized Simeon. Her inner painful experience expressed in her exclamation, “My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you”, when she and Joseph saw the 12 year-old-Jesus among the doctors of the Law, can also be seen as part of the risk she took. She did not understand when Jesus said, “Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

We may guess that there were more events in the life of Mary with Jesus that she could not fully understand even though she might have deep confidence in his mission.

John’s Gospel gives an account: Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother … Seeing his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing near her, Jesus said to his mother, “Woman this is your son”. Then to the disciple he said, “This is your mother”.

As a loving mother, Mary must have always had Jesus in her mind and heart all the time. On the other hand, Jesus must have experienced the great love of his mother. There is then a loving union between Mary and Jesus; a union that makes them have a unity of purpose in life: to believe in God’s unconditional love – that God is Love. We can imagine, then, that during that last hour on the cross Jesus saw us in his Mother, and Mary saw us in Jesus.

Now, for nearly 2000 years Mary the Mother of Jesus has been one of the most worshiped woman-figures in the western culture and in the Catholic Church all over the world. She has been adored for generations because of her enduring piety and motherly love. Mary has been used as a source of inspiration for religious-worship, arts, music and the design of some beautiful Cathedrals.

Shrines to the Virgin Mary (or Marian shrines) can be found nearly in every country where the Catholic Church is present. Those shrines are often the destination of pilgrimages. Some are to mark an apparition or other miracles ascribed to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Among the famous ones are: Lourdes in France, Fatima in Portugal, Guadalupe in Mexico and Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The Catholic Church contemplates Mary’s life and addresses her in prayers. Besides praying the Rosary, there are other prayers. One of them is the Litany. There are at least four litanies prayed by individuals or communities in the Catholic Church: Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Litany of Mary of Nazareth, Litany of Our Lady of Lourdes and Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows. The Litany somehow expresses the perception of the people of God about Mary, who she is and her role in God’s redeeming works. Mary is a person, a woman, a virgin who for our sake enjoyed God’s favour to become the mother of His Son. She is, then, a loving mother for all. In her life (with Jesus) we see a model of strength, gentleness, trust, patience, courage, risk, openness and perseverance. In her we see a woman of mercy, of faith, of contemplation, of vision, of wisdom and understanding, of grace and truth, pregnant with hope, centered in God and sharer in Christ’s ministry. Like Jesus, Mary’s special concern and attention is for the poor, the weak, the sinners, the sick, the marginalized, the rejected, the oppressed, the sorrowful and those who experience less or little love. She is always there to help, to support, to encourage and to protect us to become the person we are meant to be in life and in our mission.

In short, Mary is, like Jesus, the LOVE of God for us. That is what we can learn from the Scriptures and from the teachings and traditions of the Church. What is written above is not all about Mary the Mother of Jesus; very far from that. The most important question to ask ourselves is may be: Who is Mary for me? How can I establish a living relationship with her so that I may enjoy more and more God’s abundant blessings?

Maastricht, April 25, 2014

Guido Sukarman, fic