Advent is Mary’s Story

I love the season of Advent! We wait in hope for the birth of Jesus, God Incarnate, brother, teacher, friend. For me this is a liminal time when the world is pregnant with possibilities for goodness. The stresses of life don’t go away during this time and yet I find myself able to step back and be the compassionate observer of my life in order to move through stress with hope. Mary’s story is on my mind, not the meek mild version rather the story of the Mother of the Universe who even as a very young woman was strong in her faith and loved God deeply. Who is she? For me, Mary the Mother of Jesus is pure embodied, peaceful, passionate love. In embodying this love she is powerful and strong in paradoxical ways. This love overcomes hate and sadness and sorrow. This love doesn’t replace the hardships, rather this love resides with us in the midst of whatever circumstances life brings our way.

As I reflect on the Advent narrative in my tradition, I find that my own journey has expanded my appreciation of the journey of Mary the Mother of Jesus. I am approaching Her journey from a place of wonder and expansion and as I do I am noticing Her in new ways. There have been many times in my life that I have had a momentary thought that she must have been incredible. Often in churches across Christianity in America she is barely noticed and when she is noticed she is portrayed as timid, shy, barely more than an empty vessel to be filled and used. This has always bothered me because I think that in order to bring the son of the living God into the world she would have had to be a woman with a whole lot of moxie, a woman who resided in her own power and agency.

Advent is Mary’s story. Mary’s “Yes!” to Divine Presence literally within her body. Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and the closeness of family and community as both women experience unexpected delight in the midst of Divine pregnancies. Mary’s Journey with Joseph to Bethlehem…Mary birthing Jesus. Advent is Mary’s Story.

Let’s take a look…

Luke 1:26-39 - New Revised Standard Version

26. In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27. to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. 28. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." 29. But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34. Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" 35. The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37. For nothing will be impossible with God." 38. Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. 39. In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country,

Matthew 1:18-25 - New Revised Standard Version

18. Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." 22. All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 23. "Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, "God is with us." 24. When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25. but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Ironically to find these passages I had to search for the angel Gabriel rather than Mary….ugh.

So in dissecting these passages here is what we learn of Mary…

She is a virgin.

She is favored by God.

The Lord is with her.

She was perplexed by the angel.

She pondered the angel’s greeting to her.

The angel says ‘do not be afraid’ which is often used to make her seem fearful but the Scripture never says she is afraid.

She will conceive and bear a son.

The holy spirit. Will come upon her/ the power of the most high will overshadow her/ her child will be holy/

Mary says ‘Here am I the servant of the Lord. Let it be with me according to your word.’/ Mary says “Yes!”

I imagine there was a purity about Mary. There is an inherent goodness implied in these brief scriptures. For reasons that remain a mystery, Mary is favored by Creator. Honestly, the more I ponder this, I think we are all favored by God. We are all loved just as we are. We don’t have to do anything or become anything in order to be loved and beloved of the Divine. Maybe that is part of the reason Mary is perplexed when the angel tells her she is going to conceive a divine child. Kind of that ‘who me? I am just a regular person’ kind of thought and how perfect is that? Who me? How often have you thought ‘who me?’ In the face of the possibility of transformative experiences in your life? I would say the Divine is smiling and saying gently…”Yes, absolutely You!”

The angel Gabriel appears to her which invites me to ponder what that experience would be like for Mary…was it a moment of surety for her? A moment when she felt close to the divine realm? Close to Love with a capital L? Angels are often divine messengers and Gabriel is one of the big guns so to speak when it comes to angels which heralds the importance of the message. Did Mary have a sense of wonderment in that moment? I imagine that she did.

And then the angel says the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power of the Most High will over shadow her creating a holy child…talk about a mind blowing thought. A Cosmic Union…cosmic orgasm…creating a cosmic child…no sperm involved…just divine power. Let that sink in to your soul. What a memorable moment for Mary, one I imagine she would remember for the rest of her life. An epic union of human and divine beings creating a cosmic child who is both and…human and divine.

Finally in this scripture portion Mary consents. Mary says ‘Yes’. For me, that feels important. She says ‘Yes’

I love pondering the story of Mary and the birth of Jesus with you this Advent. I am letting my own imagination enter the story in order to expand the possibilities inherent and in order to seek wisdom that we may have missed up until now. As always, receive what resonates and discard what doesn’t serve you in your journey. Most of all I invite you to imagine yourself living out the story of Mary for the next few weeks. Imagine her lived experiences. Imagine.

What has your experience of Mary the Mother of Jesus been in your faith tradition? 

How does considering her anew impact your experience of Mary?

This comes with love on the winds of change,

Mary Ann