REC Reflections
REC News
August 15th is the Feast Day of the Assumption and is a day when all Catholics attend mass to honour Mary the mother of Jesus. The following is a reflection on Mary as a mother and as a disciple that I found quite poignant.
I don’t think we can come close to imagining Mary’s love for and devotion to her son. She alone among all mothers can truly be described as the mother of the “perfect child.” The truth that we know of Mary testifies of a remarkable lover and disciple of the Lord. She truly is revealed in Scripture as a woman “full of grace.”
Mary’s response to the message of God’s angel Gabriel shows the humility and submission of an earnest disciple of the Lord, “Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38) She fully yields to the Lord’s word and the movement of the Holy Spirit in her life.
Her cousin Elizabeth describes Mary as the “mother of my Lord” and as blessed because she believed the promises of the Lord. Discipleship begins and ends with grace from the Lord and belief from the disciple.
Mary responds to Elizabeth’s interaction with her by proclaiming her “Song of Praise” that begins, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.” (Luke 1:46-47) Mary consistently demonstrates the appropriate posture of the Lord’s disciple. She seeks to magnify and glorify the Lord, not herself, and her joy is in the Lord and not the world.
Scripture describes Mary as marvelling at what is said about Jesus. I imagine this describes a consistent response to Jesus’ life by his mother. From the announcement by Gabriel onward, she marvels and treasures mysteries in her heart, as she conceives, gives birth to and raises God’s son. As with any disciple of Jesus, her life includes wonderful glory and painful sorrow and trials. With Mary, these are much more extreme and felt more deeply than with others.
Mary surely worried and feared for her son, as most mothers do. I wonder if like me (and my mum) she exhorted Jesus to “Be careful!” each time he ventured out the door. How keenly her eye must have been on Jesus the toddler, the teenager, the young man and then the prophet out in the world.
Mary walked through the heights of being the mother of the most wonderful person who ever did or ever will live. She experienced the sweetness of Jesus. At the cross, she descended into the bitterness of the valley of the shadow of death. Our discipleship may follow similar paths of sweetness and bitterness. I hope that we will be faithful to stand with and for Jesus, as Mary was faithful among all people. We will then be blessed, as she is blessed.
Retrieved and adapted from https://craigstephans.wordpress.com/2014/04/18/mary-the-mother-of-jesus-the-son-of-god-a-reflection