From her yes to an angelâs message until her last prayerful breath, the Blessed Mother was the first disciple of Christ, studying Him and learning from Him for thirty years, before Jesus called his first Apostle. Walk with Jesus as he teaches, heals, and ultimately makes the trip to Golgotha, but see it through his mother's eyes. Let us stop to consider this pure mother's heart, her devotion to God, and her example of how to be a good disciple of Christ. Let us learn from the woman who bore and raised our Savior.
From her yes to an angelâs message until her last prayerful breath, the Blessed Mother was the first disciple of Christ, studying Him and learning from Him for thirty years, before Jesus called his first Apostle. Walk with Jesus as he teaches, heals, and ultimately makes the trip to Golgotha, but see it through his mother's eyes. Let us stop to consider this pure mother's heart, her devotion to God, and her example of how to be a good disciple of Christ. Let us learn from the woman who bore and raised our Savior.
If an angel appeared to you and told you that your life would change the course of humanity, thatâs not something you would easily forget. You would hear those words echo throughout your life, and every experience you had would be measured against that prophecy. From that point on, your entire life would be dedicated to interpreting every event in your life in light of that prophecy.
This happened to Mary. The angel Gabriel appeared to her, greeting her with a very unusual title. In Greek, the word is kecharitomene. This word, which only appears once in Greek, is the feminine present perfect passive voice participle of the verb charitĂłĹ. CharitóŠis indicating grace. The passive voice in kecharitomene means to have been endowed with grace by God. The perfect form means that she was ALWAYS endowed with this grace, and at no time was she not endowed with this grace.
The fact that the angel greeted her as Kecharitomene also indicates that this is her name. The angel said, âHail, Kecharitomene,â as one would say, âHail, Caesar.â Mary got a new name. Abram was renamed âAbraham,â meaning âFather of Nations.â Saul was renamed âPaul,â and Simon was renamed âCephas,â the only word for âRockâ in Aramaic. In a biblical context, when one is given a new name, a new mission is entrusted to that person.
Since the angel greeted her in such a strange manner, Mary was frightened. She might have been concerned that this new name, which could also be translated as âhighly exalted one,â was some form of temptation to pride. But the angel explained that she had been chosen to be the mother of the Messiah. She also knew what this meant. Mary knew she would suffer being the mother of the Anointed One of God. The prophets had already foretold that the Messiah would suffer and die for our transgressions. Just a few verses of Isaiah 53 would be enough to make even a sinful mother of this Messiah terror-stricken, let alone such a holy and pure mother like Mary, who was filled with grace and love by God!
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised, and we did not esteem him.
Surely, he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with his stripes, we are healed.
All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. (Isaiah 53:3-7)
Mary knew what the prophets had written. She knew she would have to support Him through His life to prepare Him for the fulfillment of these prophecies. Even knowing the above prophecies, Mary may not have fully understood how they would be fulfilled, but they gave her a resounding yes to God's will.
Mary was betrothed to Joseph, who lived in separate houses. She didnât know when this was supposed to happen, and she didnât know exactly how this was supposed to happen. You might remember the angelâs announcement to Zechariah regarding Elizabethâs pregnancy. Zechariahâs response to the angel was one of doubt. âAnd Zechariah said to the angel, âHow shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years.â (Luke 1:18)
Zechariah didnât believe the angel and wanted some sign that this would happen, asking, âHow shall I know this (to be true),â and began giving the reasons it couldnât be true (âfor I am an old manâŚâ).
Mary, by contrast, didnât question the angel as to the veracity of her having Godâs Son. She was inquiring about the means. It was common in those days for a girl to take a vow of virginity. If a woman were then betrothed, her husband could release her from that vow or allow her to remain committed to her promise to God. Given Maryâs response, âHow shall this be, since I know not man?â That response isnât just an âIâm currently a virgin,â since sheâs betrothed and soon to be married. The âI know not, manâ is the equivalent of a person saying, âI donât smokeâ or âI donât drink.â In todayâs language, it would sound more like âI donât do sex.â The question was asking the angel if God meant for her to be released from her vow of virginity. She knew how babies were typically made. Thatâs why the angel answered her:
âThe Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God.â (Luke 1:35)
Mary would be allowed to keep her vow of virginity, and God would take care of the rest. The Holy Spirit would use her flesh as the source of Christâs Earthly body. This is the reason Mary had been preserved from original sin. Since Jesus, the perfect Man, and the new Adam took His flesh from Mary that flesh had to be perfect. Otherwise, Satan could say that he at one time held sway over the flesh of Christ â even if it was just for a moment when it was still the flesh of Mary. Jesus could not allow Satan to have any claim that he had corrupted the flesh of Christ in any way â even if it were to say that Christâs flesh originated from the flesh he had corrupted, and so therefore âowned,â even if that was only a brief period of âownership.â Jesus further wouldnât allow Satan to mock His mother since He perfectly would live the commandment saying, âHonor your Father and your mother.â He would not allow Satan the ability to say that he had âownershipâ of Christâs mother at any period of her life or that someone corrupted by Satan raised Jesus.
Maryâs response to all of this was not one of pride. Her answer was simple:
âBehold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word.â (Luke 1:38)
She proclaimed herself not exalted nor even favored. She declared herself to be a handmaid. A handmaid is a slave. She said that she is the slave of God, and whatever God asks, sheâll do without question. She didnât even say, âIâll do it.â She said, âLet it be done to me.â I donât know if any other person could even approach this level of humility.
Although there was great joy in seeing the fulfillment of the Old Covenant and knowing that the long-awaited Messiah would arrive, we can imagine that there was some trepidation in having an inkling of the pain and suffering required of her. Still, she submitted to Godâs will without hesitation.
How often do we challenge God when things donât go as planned, asking, âWhy, Lord? Why me?â We never ask, âWhy me?â when things are going well and God blesses us. But let a little trouble creep in.Â
Let us resolve to accept Godâs will for our lives, whether we see it as a blessing or something painful that we must endure. Let us say with Mary, âBehold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word.â
Dwelling on Maryâs response and applying it to our lives is why the fruit of this mystery is humility. We can see the development of the Hail Mary prayer, as well as the rest of the prayers of the Rosary as we travel with Mary through the Gospel narrative:
âHail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with theeâŚâ (Luke 1:28)
Full disclosure: this book is definitely written from a Catholic viewpoint, and I am not Catholic, I'm Lutheran. However, most of the book fit in with the way that I view Scripture, with the exception of the last two mysteries.
I liked how the book was organized. There were four different groupings of mysteries - joyful, luminous, sorrowful, and glorious. Each one had a particular theme. The joyful mysteries were early in on the life of Jesus, with His coming. The luminous mysteries provided evidence for who Jesus was as the Son of God. The sorrowful mysteries surrounded the Crucifixion, and the glorious mysteries involved the resurrection and ascension, as well as Mary's assumption.
The book definitely incorporated a lot of Scripture. I also appreciated how it acknowledged that the assumption of Mary wasn't directly stated in Scripture. I appreciated having the chance to think about how Mary was affected throughout the New Testament story. I also liked to think about what she thought of all of the events, even the ones that she wasn't there for. Even though she's not instrumental in the story of the Transfiguration, for example, it would make sense that at some point she heard about it. What would she have thought? Would she have understood the full implications of even the events she was involved in, like searching for Jesus in the temple when he was just a boy?
This book is a great book for anyone interested more in learning about the mysteries of the New Testament through the lens of Mary. It would be particularly appropriate for Catholic readers, given the emphasis on Mary's role as the mother of Jesus. Even for those who aren't Catholic, however, it can give a good viewpoint and provide food for meditation from a different angle about the story.