Meditation on The Virgin Mary

God chose Mary to be his dwelling-place. Thus, Jesus Christ, the Word of God, lived within her. The Holy Spirit came upon her, the power of the Most High overshadowed her, just as in the Old Testament, the Ark of the Covenant received the cloud of the Presence. As a result of the Divine Presence, God the Son, the Word of God, was made flesh within her womb. "Therefore the Holy Child to be born shall be called the Son of God.”  At the moment of her pregnancy, the glory of God comes upon her, and Mary is revealed as the new dwelling-place of God, the new Holy of Holies. "The Word became flesh and made his home amongst us.” When Mary understood the message of the Angel, she yielded to the Will of God. She said, Yes! - Freely and with confidence.

We should ask ourselves – do I open my life to the action of the Holy Spirit?
At first the Virgin Mary did not fully appreciate the significance of the Angel’s words, but she accepted and submitted. Do I accept the Will of God for me? Do I trust in him to lead me? Do I submit to him?
Or rather, do I look for excuses? – I am an old man, I am an old woman! My poor health stands in my way! I am weak-willed! I have no time!
The Virgin Mary did not seek to avoid her vocation – she served God, cared for her kinswoman, and, continues to care for us.

 

2. Cana: The Beginnings of her intercession

"There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had been invited to the wedding.” (Jn 2:1) The Virgin is not anymore called simply "Mary” but the people call her the "mother of Jesus” – mother of the Saviour, Mother of God. She will not again take on her name until at Pentecost when the Annunciation finds its fulfilment.
"This is the first of the signs of Jesus; he did it in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory, and his disciples believed in him.” (Jn2:11) Jesus was born into this world through the Virgin, and, it is at her request that he gives his first sign.

Why did the Virgin ask for this sign? Because she was sympathetic to the young couple and their needs! Likewise, today, she sympathises with us in our various needs, she intercedes for us, and, she asks her Son to grant us what is lacking. God truly knows our needs, and when he said to us, "ask and you shall find,” he is encouraging us to place, without hesitation, all our needs before him; just as did the sister of Lazarus, "Lord, our brother is sick, and we entrust him to you.” God is understanding and loving – he sends no one away empty-handed…and must this not be even more so if we ask his Mother to intercede for us? He gives abundantly more than we ask, without condition and in great love.
Mary told Jesus of what was lacking, and he changed water into wine. On the Cross, he gave us the true wine of the new wedding feast of the Resurrection. In this way, we can say, as it were, that the Eucharist, the cross and the Resurrection were foreshadowed at the wedding of Cana.

 

3. "We have been searching for you in great anxiety."

Jesus left Mary and Joseph as they left Jerusalem, and, he stayed on in Temple, "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. After three days, Mary and Joseph found him in the Temple. His mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? See, your father and I have been searching for you with great anxiety.” He said to them, "Why are you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Lk 2:46-49) Jesus listens to us always, and, he answers. He cares for us and he cares about the concerns of our lives. He calls us, just as he called his mother, Mary, and Joseph, his foster-father, to grow in faith just as he would ask of the apostles who likewise did not understand his words.

This call is to seek out Jesus just as Mary did. She lived through the anxiety of his far away from her. When we are at such a distance from God that we lose sight of him, we are anxious, we suffer, we are in anguish. It is not easy for us to live our lives without the closeness of God and without his grace!
God calls us to be concerned with his concerns, those of the Church and those of others. He is to be found in the poor, the sick, the imprisoned and the sinner. He takes up the towel and washes the feet of the least of his brothers and sisters, heals their wounds, opens their eyes and forgives their sins.
Mary returned in search of Jesus! He was in the Temple, in Church! Christ is present with his brothers and sisters in the Church. If we go in search of him, we will find him there in the midst of the Church, speaking to the nations, teaching them as he did the two disciples on the way to Emmaus; teaching them as he also teaches us.


4. The Virgin Mary: Bridge between God and Humanity

"Hail, Celestial Ladder by whom God came down; hail, O Bridge leading earthly ones to heaven! Hail, O Key to the kingdom of Christ; hail, O Hope for the ages of bliss!”  (From the Akathistos Hymn, Madayeh)

After the Ascension of Christ into Heaven, the Apostles returned to Jerusalem and went to the Upper Room wherein they had eaten the last Passover with the Lord, and "they were constantly devoting themselves to prayer, together with certain women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus.” (Acts 1:14)

The Virgin Mary, united within herself both the motherhood of Christ, which was achieved by the Holy Spirit, and, her motherhood of the Church, also accomplished through the Holy Spirit. She still remains present within the Church according to the will of her son, Jesus Christ, who when, from the cross, he said to her, "Woman, this is your son.”

The whole Church acknowledges the Virgin as the most highly blessed because she is full of grace and all-blameless. In her purity she surpasses all humanity and all the angels. She is higher than the cherubim and more glorious beyond compare than the seraphim. When we recall the salvific acts of God, we remember the Virgin. When we pray, we join her with us in our thanksgiving and in our glorifying God. Because she was the first to respond to the action of the Holy Spirit, she is the symbol of the Church and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon us. For this reason we take her as our model in our conduct and our faith, in our love and our union with God. The Virgin Mary is indeed the ladder that raises us up to God. She is truly the bridge by whom we pass from weakness and sin to the grace of God.

5. Hail, Full of Grace, Rejoice, Most Highly Favoured!

When I awaken each morning, I place myself in the presence of God. I raise my eyes to him, and, he looks upon me. I recall all that he has given me, gifts and graces, and, I thank and praise him. When the Angel brought the message to Mary, it was in complete freedom that she responded with "Yes! I am the servant of the Lord.” It is in grace, not in sin, that we find our freedom. "Where there is the Spirit of God, there is freedom.” (2Cor 3:17) "You, brethren, were called to freedom.” (Gal 5:13)
Of all humankind, the Virgin Mary was the most liberated because she said "Yes!” And we cannot be free except that, with love, we say "yes” to the Lord. It is only then that a great joy will rise up overflow within us.

6- The Virgin Mary kept all these things in her heart…

St Luke the Evangelist tells us that Jesus "went down to Nazareth and was obedient to them, and his mother, Mary, kept all these things in her heart.” (Lk 2: 51) Like Jesus, we leave Jerusalem and return to Nazareth, that is, we go forth from the church after the celebration of the Holy Liturgy, and, we return to our own homes, to our everyday lives, thus to live in complete obedience to the Lord. The Church does not ask of us that we submit to the Master as would slaves, but rather she desires that we should live in harmony with the will of the Lord. Thus, it is as His own children, who have already experienced His love, that we live in communion with that same will.

This assumes that we live in total openness before God, total honesty with the Holy Spirit. Someone asked the father of Ivanka a few days following the close of apparitions of our Lady to his daughter in Medjugorie, "How do you live after the departure of the Virgin?” He replied, "We live as if a member of our family were gone.”
Our Lady, Mary, witnessed, day by day, the growth of Jesus. She tried to understand and to question, but in the midst of her difficulties she opened her heart to the Holy Spirit, and, He revealed the fulfillment of the Truth. "But when he, the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into the whole truth.” (Jn 16:13)

The Virgin Mary experienced the difficulties within faith, just as we do. However, the light shone always for her. Thus, in keeping "all these things in her heart” she was open to the Holy Spirit enlightening her hope. Perhaps, just as even our Lady at times experienced conflict, so indeed we might find ourselves crying out, time and again, "O Lord, why have you forsaken me?” Only the Virgin Mary can teach us to be patient and to be silent; to open our hearts in manifold ways to the workings of the Holy Spirit. Only she can teach us true perseverance in faith and true fidelity in love.

 

7 - Mary at the foot of the Cross

Mary followed Jesus to the cross. She was not overcome by fear at the sight of his sufferings. She did not cry out, move away or turn aside. She gazed upon her son, and yet, believed that the Resurrection was near. As she looked upon him on the cross, she recalled that he had once said to his disciples, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” (Lk 9:23)

In standing at the foot of the cross, Mary has taught us to forget ourselves, and, to live in peace with humanity; to understand the pain of others and to sympathize with them. Mary had entered into the pain of Jesus crucified. We should respond in this way – to suffer with those who suffer, to understand their pain; to be compassionate and tender with them. This is our vocation as Christians. When Jesus fell under the weight of the cross, his mother rushed to him, kissed him, and, with the help of the other holy women, raised him up. In his unspeakable pain, undoubtedly he found comfort in her kisses.
As he bled, it was she who wiped away his blood. This is the Virgin Mary – she carries our cross with us, she wipes away our tears, she raises us up when we are weak, she calls us to repent and to seek forgiveness form Jesus.

Whilst hanging on the cross, Jesus said to his apostle, John, "Behold your mother” and to Mary, "This is your son.” With these words, Jesus asked Mary to be the mother of all Christians. In this, jesus gave us the greatest of all blessings – to be sons and daughters of the Virgin Mary. Thus the Virgin became mother of both the Church and every individual believer. Jesus loved us, and, gave us a mother. He gives her to us as our exemplar.

 

8 – Lets take the Mother as our own.

After the wedding in Cana, Jesus "went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days." (Jn 2:12) Mary accompanied Jesus throughout most of his mission, however, much of the time, she remained in the background. She was pained at the denial of her son by his own people because she had seen the divine signs that accompanied him, and which revealed him as the Christ, the Saviour. When Jesus was told that his mother was waiting outside the house - "Your mother and your brethren are outside, asking for you,” he replied, "Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking around on those who sat about him, he said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! All they who do the will of God are my brother, and sister, and mother." (Mk 3:31-35)
These words of Jesus were not directed at Mary, nor were they intended to make less of her. Rather they were addressed to the people and were meant to be as incisive as a sword for, here, Jesus declares that our obedience to the will of the Father is greater and far more important than any human ties. To follow Jesus means to be obey him, to conform to his will, to accept his words and to follow his teachings. Just as Mary used serve the Word of God, so too, our vocation is to be ministers of the Gospel in union with our brothers and sisters. To be a disciple of Jesus means to follow him without conditions and to imitate him. Jesus said, "I am the way…. This was the true light that gives light to everyone who comes into the world" (Jn 1 /:9).

We follow Jesus in his mercy and his humility, in his love for humankind, in his preaching, in his suffering and in his glory. The Virgin Mary was the first to follow Jesus from the first moments of her divine motherhood to the very Cross and to the Resurrection. Could we possibly find a better guide than she? Could we possibly find a better help in our efforts to follow Jesus? She constantly journeys with us that she might ever keep us close to her Son.

 

Eparch