Mary, woman of faith

[Trishie]

Heavenly Mother

When humankind first sinned against our Creator, God immediately condemned the tempter, saying, “I will make you enemies of each other: you and the woman, your offspring and her offspring. It will crush your head.” [Genesis 3:15] Mary, whom Jesus made mother of all persons from the cross, [John 19:26-27] please, with the Angels, fight the ancient enemy in our lives, for sake of the redemption that your Son won for us.

You were obedient: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said is done to me.” [Luke 1:38] You were unselfish and kind. Although yourself pregnant, you hurried to assist your older cousin in her pregnancy as soon as Gabriel informed you of it. God rewarded your faith and love by allowing the Spirit to speak to through Elizabeth :

“Of all women you are the most blessed, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honoured by a visit from the mother of my Lord? For the moment that your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped for joy. Yes, blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled.” [Luke 1:39-45]

 

[Trishie]

In you, the Spirit responded,

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord
and my spirit exults in God my saviour;
because He has looked upon His lowly handmaid.

Yes, from this day forward all generations will call me blessed,
for the Almighty has done great things for me. Holy is His name,
and His mercy reaches from age to age for those who fear him.

He has shown the power of His arm, He has routed the proud of heart.
He has pulled down princes from their thrones and exalted the lowly.
The hungry He has filled with good things, the rich sent empty away.

He has come to the help of Israel his servant, mindful of His mercy
—according to the promises He made to our ancestors—
of His mercy to Abraham and to his descendants forever.” [Luke 1:46-79]

You rejoiced for the blessing given to you Mary, and for those given to all persons through the Child whom you carried in your womb—for we also are descendants of Abraham, by faith. [Romans 4:12] You, in this loving concern for others, interceded for their needs even while on earth, exhorting them to obedient faith like your own, “do whatever He tells you”. He initially reproved you —“My hour is not yet come.” [John 2:4, 5] However, He granted your humble request.

 

[Trishie]

Woman of faith, although your life held many perplexities and seeming inconsistencies, you treasured and pondered these brief manifestations of divine action in your Son’s life without losing your humble trust. [Luke 2:19-20]

When you heard of the terrible slaughter of the innocent infants, intended to include Jesus, this massacre devastated your maternal heart on behalf of those other mothers. Others might have said, “How can God allow this?” But then as now, we understand that your gentle maternal heart trusted in God’s mercy and prayed for the shocked, bereaved families.

When you fled as a refugee with all the grief, displacement and destitution that refugee families may suffer you still kept faith.
Again, you trusted, as He hung dying horribly wounded and humiliated upon a criminal’s cross.

Mary, we thank you for your care of that incomparable Child, whose coming was foretold centuries before. We thank you—for the Child whom you bore and nurtured is Saviour of all humankind! Thank you for your faith, for your obedience, for your faithfulness through all those years when the extraordinary promise made to you might have seemed lost in daily routine.