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Rector's Ramblings
Today is the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, mother of our Lord. If there was a tendency of the Roman Catholic Church to venerate her too highly, many protestants have thrown the mother out with the bathwater. Certainly, Mary was not perfect. There were times when she tried to restrain her son. However, the same can be said of all of the disciples of Jesus.
In some ways, Mary is the ultimate model for discipleship. When the Angel Gabriel told Mary that she would conceive a son who would be the Son of the Most High, she naturally had some questions. She was a virgin. She knew enough basic biology to know that it takes two people to have a child. Gabriel explained that the Holy Spirit would conceive the child within her. Mary’s response was, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
Anyone who follows Jesus will have questions from time to time. How is what you are asking me to do possible? Are you sure I can do this? Do you know this is not how things normally work? In spite of these questions, we following Jesus demands that we respond, “Let it be with me according to your word.”
At the wedding at Cana, the wine was almost gone. This would have been a significant embarrassment to the groom. We do not know the exact relationship between Mary and the couple getting married. However, Mary concerned herself with making sure they were not embarrassed. Mary went to Jesus and interceded on behalf of the couple.
As disciples of Christ one of the things we are called to do is intercede on behalf of others. We are called to take their needs to Jesus in prayer. We are called to ask Jesus to eliminate their suffering.
When Jesus was crucified, Mary stood at the foot of the cross. She, more than anyone else, must have grieved at the suffering of her son. As a parent, I can hardly imagine the suffering she experienced. Yet, she did not abandon her son.
As followers of Jesus, we are called to look upon the suffering of Jesus on the cross. We are called to remember what he suffered to take away the sin of the world. We are called to allow that suffering to affect us, and to mourn the price not only of our own sins, but of the result of all sin in this world.
Fr. RJ+
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