“The Virgin of the Immaculate Conception,” a painted and gilded statue attributed to Juan Martinez Montanes. (CNS photo/courtesy of National Gallery of Art)
Local Catholic educators and religious find in Our Blessed Mother a luminous example to follow as we prepare for Christmas
Young, poor, in her final weeks of pregnancy, forced on the road by a foreign occupier’s census law, shelterless and vulnerable. The Blessed Virgin Mary endured much in her journey to Jesus’ birth. Yet through her humble “yes” to God’s plan for the Incarnation, Mary changed salvation history forever.
Mary can serve as a beautiful figure for reflection as Hawaii Catholics celebrate the season of Advent. Awaiting Christ’s arrival is a time of prayerful anticipation, faith, hope and love. Mary embodied these virtues and can help us grow in them too, as several local Catholics with a fond devotion to her explain.
Peace amid chaos
According to tradition, Mary was a Jewish girl from Nazareth in Galilee. Her parents were the elderly St. Joachim and St. Ann. She is said to have been a teenager when she was engaged to marry Joseph, and when the angel Gabriel announced that she would conceive Christ through the Holy Spirit.
While traditional art often depicts Mary as wearing blue and living with a small family, Marianist Brother Dennis Schmitz at Chaminade University said that was unlikely the case. Anthropologists, he said, have noted that blue garments “would’ve been exceedingly expensive” for the peasant girl. Mary also would have shared her humble dwellings with a large extended clan, as was the Jewish norm then.
“The unwed Mary’s pregnancy would’ve caused more than a minor family ruckus in a multigenerational household of grandparents, parents, in-laws, cousins and nieces and nephews,” Brother Schmitz said.
Brother Schmitz envisions that Mary was surrounded by familial “chaos,” but kept her peace “by finding brief moments of quiet … to turn to God.” Catholics can do well to follow that example amid the hustle and bustle of the Advent season.
“Although most of us don’t live 24/7 in an extended family dwelling, we all deal with the noise and the ruckus of family preparations for Christmas,” Brother Schmitz said. “Mary, however, lived in the confusion yet maintained her spiritual focus.”
“If we reflect on Mary’s example, we can both consciously and sub-consciously be formed to live like she did,” he said.
Humble servant
“Mary may not have had many worldly comforts, yet she glorified the Lord in reflecting and magnifying his goodness and love,” said Jayne Mondoy, diocesan religious education director.
Mondoy said Mary is a “model of faith because she reminds us of the essential link between humility and holiness.”
At the angel Gabriel’s visit, Mary accepted God’s will with the humble response, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word” (Luke 1:38). Mary demonstrated her loving servitude after the Annunciation, Mondoy said, by assisting her pregnant cousin Elizabeth.
“Advent is a fitting season to ask ourselves, ‘Does my soul magnify the Lord?’” Mondoy said. “When faced with life’s challenges, can I be more like Mary, letting God work within me to accomplish his will and responding to the needs of others?”
Sacred Hearts Sister Regina Mary Jenkins said Mary’s humility “opened the way to her wholehearted ‘yes’ to the awesome invitation of God.”
“It fueled her obedience to the many demands placed upon her as a woman of her culture and time,” Sister Regina added.
Faithful and trusting
Sister Laura Fidelis Nolin and Sister Mary Joane Caritas Gepitulan of the Daughters of St. Paul said Mary’s tremendous trust in God also guides Catholics through Advent.
“No matter what obstacle came her way, whether it was not having a place to give birth, being poor, or having to constantly pick up and move on to another town,” Sister Laura said, “(Mary) did it with great faith and great trust that God would provide for her every step of the way.”
According to the Gospel of Luke, while Mary was pregnant with Jesus, the Roman emperor Caesar ordered a census to be taken. Joseph and Mary traveled for days to Joseph’s hometown of Bethlehem to be enrolled. There, Mary gave birth to Jesus in a stable because there were no vacancies at local inns.
Sister Mary Joane said she admires how even in those circumstances, Mary never wavered in her faith.
“Mary knows confusions, anxieties, and sometimes feels real anguish as she tries to understand God’s plan,” she said. “Mary tells us that faith is profoundly meaningful when it is difficult to believe.”
During Advent, Catholics can learn to root themselves like Mary in God’s providence.
“We must have trust that God will provide for us, will take care of us, will love us no matter what comes our way because it is the truth,” Sister Laura said.
“Mary’s example of faith gives us hope and helps us embrace life’s challenges with graciousness, serenity and peace as we welcome Jesus into our world and into our own hearts,” Sister Mary Joane added.
Eucharist
Diocesan hermit Sister Bernadette Meno and Sister Marykutty Kottuppallil of the Missionary Sisters of Mary Help of Christians said Catholics have Mary to thank when they receive the Eucharist.
“Mary, God’s chosen one, in her littleness, must have felt a sense of wonder and awe that she carried within her body, the Son of God, held close to her heart,” said Sister Bernadette. “We too carry the Son of God within us when we receive him in the Eucharist.”
Sister Bernadette, who lives a life of solitude and prayer on Maui, said at Advent, Catholics should ponder the question, “Do we feel a sense of wonder and awe that we, in our littleness, can be so privileged to have the Son of God within us?”
We can learn from Mary, Sister Bernadette said, “to lift our spirits in joy and gratitude” for the gift of Jesus.
Sister Marykutty called Mary “a chalice of salvation for all.”
“Nothing was certain to her, and yet she felt that her burden was light and her yoke was sweet, and she carried her cross out of love for Jesus,” Sister Marykutty said. “She made it possible for all of us to receive her Son in the form of broken body and blood.”
Fulfilling our longing
Kristina DeNeve, adult faith formation coordinator for the diocese, said Mary’s patient waiting for Jesus’ birth mirrors our own anticipation for a savior.
“Waiting and longing for a better tomorrow is such a big part of what makes us human,” DeNeve said. “Like Mary, we each yearn for wholeness, for completeness, while we are in the midst of our less-than-perfect lives.”
Mary was not satisfied until her heart and soul were united with God, DeNeve noted. Understanding that only God can make us whole draws us closer to Mary’s example of perfect grace and love.
“The more we grow in awareness of our own incompleteness … the more our hearts are united with Mary’s most gracious heart,” she said. “At Advent and beyond.”
