Reflecting on the Blessed Virgin
Mary makes us ponder how she related with her son Jesus. I have a postulation about
Mary in the gospels. “Mary is the first one”. I will try to expound this
phrase.
She was the first one to be
evangelized by the good news proclaimed by the angel Gabriel (Luke 1: 26-38).
She was the first one to make this child the centre of her life and the first
one to hear his name. She was also the first to repeat in spontaneous longing,
what any mother whispers to the infant she carries in her womb. Devotion to the
name of Jesus sprang from her lips.
She was the first one to say yes
to Jesus. Her yes was a prelude to the endless series of “yeses” starting with
Joseph’s yes, Peter’s, the beloved disciple’s, a yes that was to have a ripple
effect from generation to generation, through centuries and across all nations,
tongues and cultures, touching our hearts and evoking our yes today. As the
hymn goes “thank you mother Mary for that Yes of our redemption.”
Mary is the first through whom
Jesus came to experience the sweetness of being loved in his humanity; she
embraced him in maternal love; through her own humanity she offered to the son
of God the dearest love it possessed, the love of a very young mother. Jesus
knew that love until his very death, and he knows it still through our love, we
who are his disciples.
When acknowledged by the unborn
John the Baptist, Mary’s response was the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) a hymn that
from the beginning to end sets God, in his love, at the center of the history
of humanity. This hymn is the first great canticle of praise in all the
gospels, issued from the heart and lips of Mary, the humble servant.
She was the first one to keep in
her heart all what was said about her son: and Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart (Luke 2:19).
At Cana she is the first person
named, and is the first one to bring a human problem to Jesus (John 2:1-11).
She knew him, and she believed in him.
Mary was the first to hurry to
Jesus when it was said that he was out of his mind (Mark 3:20-21.31-35). She
led the extended family to Jesus, concerned and seeking the truth. A good
lesson is when Jesus is the source of scandal for us; he is the first one we
should seek.
Mary was the first one to suffer
in the shadow of the cross (Luke 2:34-35). Thus Mary, who shares her son’s
blessings, also participates in his suffering and death. In John’s gospel, she
is also the first one standing at the foot of the cross. There she becomes the
first one united to the beloved disciple, initiating a new family established
by the dying Lord.
It goes without saying that Mary
is the first and greatest witness of the incarnation, birth and death of Jesus.
She was present throughout the human life of Jesus and is the greatest witness
to his humanity. So Mary dedicated herself completely to her son. Being the
first Christian, she was also the first person consecrated to her son. Can we not love and
imitate her? Should we not ask her
to help us to be taken over by the Lord and proclaim him? Mary
lived a life of reflection. Does she not desire
that all of her children did the same?
Kibira Martin