MOTHER OF FAITH

Mother of Faith

            In Pope Paul VI’s exhortation, “Marialis Cultus”, he noted “a certain dissatisfaction for the cult of Mary and a difficulty in taking her as a model for today” because of the changed circumstances. Modern women do not live in the same world as women of the Middle East at the time of Christ. To this Pope Paul replies that Our Lady is proposed as a model not for her particular (cultural) life-style but for her faith. So Mary is the type (model) of the disciple, and as such for all men as well as women.

            In the Gospels Mary is portrayed as a women of faith, who sings a psalm of praise, known as the Magnificat, upon meeting her cousin Elizabeth in the land of Judah (Luke, 1, 46 –55). The song reflects traditional Hebrew parallelism and metre common in the Psalms and expresses Mary’s belief in and obedience to God. She praises God for exercising divine justice and compassion on behalf of the lowly, both for herself and for Israel as “God’s servant”. With the covenant reference to Abraham, Mary claims this moment as an act in continuity with God’s promises and blessings in the past. Her obedience puts her alongside the leaders of Israel; not only Abraham but also Moses and David. The Magnificat is modelled on Hannah’s (Samson’s mother) song in 1 Samuel 2, 1 – 10, who prayed and said, “My heart exults in the Lord, my strength is exalted in my God.” It preserves the depth of Jewish prayer and is marked by humility and trust in God’s power to save.

            John’s account of the wedding at Cana (John 2, 1 – 13) provides the only Gospel account of a conversation between the adult Jesus and Mary. Although brief, it rings true as an exchange between a Jewish mother and her son. When Mary asks Jesus to provide more wine, his initial response appears rather tetchy. “What concern is that to you and me?” Jews, says the Talmud, often have their feet in the dust but their heads in the stars.

According to St. Augustine (Explaining John’s Gospel, 8.9), Mary is the mother of Jesus’ weakness, not his strength. He makes it clear he will do the miracle but not because of her – his divinity has its own aims, connected with the hour of death to which he steers under the Father’s guidance. She is not privy to that higher mission. The Father controls Jesus’ hour, and Jesus is obedient to him. “Before he does perform this sign, Jesus must make clear his refusal of Mary’s intervention; she cannot have any role in his ministry; his signs must reflect his Father’s sovereignty, and not an human or family agency” (Raymond Brown, The Gospel according to John, Vol. I, p. 109).

            However, Jesus, like most Jewish sons, fulfils the biblical command to respect his mother, and obeys her. The wine appears, justifying Mary’s faith in him when she tells the servants the hauntingly unforgettable line: “Do whatever he tells you.”

            Our lives are to sparkle and dance and lure others into the arms of God. Mary’s faith life is a dance to imitate, but the steps are ours to learn, and no dance is the same. What is more important is to grow up, walk on our own two feet, and run after the Spirit’s gifts. A mother’s love stretches us and makes us imitate the love we have been given so graciously. Mother Mary saw that “the Child grew in stature and strength.”