Mary, The Friend of God and Prophet

While our wider culture celebrates the New Year today, the church celebrates the feast of Mary, Mother of God.

What comes to mind for you when you think about Mary, the Mother of God? What do you see? What associations do you make, if any?

Growing up Catholic,  I know that I had a complicated relationship with Mary. The Church’s emphasis on her virginity and her being without sin made it very hard for me to relate to her. She seemed so removed from the human experience and was often portrayed as docile and obedient. While these attributes have a place in the spiritual life, this portrayal of Mary fit into a wider pattern of patriarchy in the church and served to reinforce the exclusion of and silencing of women that permeated the church for centuries (and persists to this day).

Years later, I’d come to find out that due to some translational changes, the word used to describe Mary in the Greek (which the gospel writer Matthew was using) derives from the original Hebrew word which just means “young woman.” It does not necessarily specify a virgin.  And it wasn’t until the 4th century in church history that her virginity and being without sin emerged as articles of faith.

In fact, the early church viewed her much differently (with her sexuality and submissiveness NOT being the central aspects of her life). She was viewed as a leader, mentor and elder of the emerging social movement that became known as ‘Christianity.’

In her book, The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation, Anna Malaika Tubbs speaks about how each of these women’s lives “did not begin with motherhood.” She explores how each had “passions, dreams and identity…that [their] children would one day follow.” She notes that all of these mothers, as Black women, were exposed to racism and sexism in their lives and “strove to equip their children not only to face the world but to change it.”

Think about Mary for a moment in this context. I often wonder what from her life influenced, shaped and formed Jesus.  What were her passions and dreams that Jesus learned from, took up and followed? What did she point out to Jesus in the world that he would one day face and try to change?

Tubbs goes on to say, “With the knowledge that they themselves were seen as ‘less than’ and their children would be, too, the three mothers collected tools to thrive with the hopes of teaching their children how to do the same. They found ways to give life and to humanize themselves, their children and, in turn, our entire community…In all three cases, the mothers’ worst fear became a reality: each woman was alive to bury her son. It is an absolute injustice that far too many Black mothers today can say the same thing. In the face of such tragedy, each mother persisted in her journey to leave this world a better place than when she entered it. Yet their lives continued to be largely ignored (p. 8-9).”

I can’t help but think of Mary when I reflect on Tubbs’ words, and I wonder what might become possible for us if we were to collectively reflect more on Mary in this light.

What other aspects of Mary’s life might come into view? How might we be inspired differently by her witness and life? What else about women or mothers might get affirmed and acknowledged through this lens?

It is right that we pause today and celebrate Mary, the mother of Jesus. What we celebrate, however, may need some recalibration. Sr. Joan Chittister says that, “Mary is not simply “Mary, the Mother of God.” No, on the contrary. The Mother of God is the image of women everywhere. The Mother of God is Mary, independent woman; Mary, the unmarried mother; Mary, the homeless woman; Mary, the political refugee; Mary, the Third World woman; Mary, the mother of the condemned; Mary, the widow who outlives her child; Mary, the woman of our time who shares the divine plan of salvation; Mary, the bearer of Christ.  Mary of Nazareth made feminism an article of the faith, and power holy. Mary shows us the sanctifying power of a human being who has become fully human.”

So today, as we celebrate Mary, we celebrate all women who bring God’s revelation into our world – independent women, married women, older women, younger women, unmarried women, homeless women, trans women, women refugees, women in the developing world, mothers of the condemned, mothers who outlive their children, women caught in war and all of the women of our time who share God’s plan of salvation. I can’t think of a better way to start the New Year than honoring and celebrating women everywhere. And “when the Christian community remembers like this, Mary the friend of God and prophet inspires the lives of [everyone].” (Elizabeth Johnson)

Note: I know that I grew up with an image of Mary that loooked just like me. But that’s not likely who Mary was or even what she looked like. For a look at a diversity of images of Mary, click here.