Following Mary, our mother

The whole Catholic Church recognizes Mary as the first and foremost disciple of Jesus. In the Philippines, the devotion to Mary is so entrenched that fiestas are very often timed to coincide with her feasts. Our love affair with Mama Mary connects us to the day in the first century when in Nazareth, a little town in Galilee, an angel appeared to a young Jewish girl of around fourteen and initiated an extraordinary conversation with an uncommon greeting: “Hail favored one! The Lord is with you.” The conversation was brief but filled with great significance — the angel’s message: Mary was to be the mother of Jesus, the Son of God.

It is important to note that while initially fearful, Mary’s response was fraught with uncommon humility and simplicity: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, may it be done to me according to your word.”

As strangely and as quickly as it started, the conversation ended. However, the consequence of that immense encounter was more than enough to provide the soaring words of the simplest and most beautiful prayer in the Catholic Church, the Hail Mary.

It is important to appreciate the essence of that angelic encounter. Fr. Robert Barron  (from his series “Catholicism”) emphasized that “we see the nature of God on display in the graceful and nonviolent manner of the invitation.” The gentle invitation of Gabriel at the Annunciation was in sharp contrast to the manner by which mythical gods of ancient times intervened in the affairs of humans. Such incidents were invariably violent and had the effect of ‘forcing through’. In the case of Mary, the angel was not only respectful but took care to highlight that Mary had freedom and dignity. The beautiful exchange of words between Mary and the angel proceeded gradually towards her willing surrender to the power of God’s love.

The early Church fathers stressed the fullness of a human being in the Virgin Mary; they contrasted Mary, the Mother of God, with Eve, the mother of all the living. The obedience of Mary reversed the disobedience of Eve. Fr. Robert Barron provides a great explanation: “On the basis of the angel’s greeting, ‘Kecharitomene,’ Mary has been called ‘full of grace,’ (charis is Greek for grace), and this means, basically, that she is someone who is profoundly disposed to receive gifts. In this, she becomes the new Eve, the mother of all who would be reborn by being receptive to God’s life as a gift.”

Following Mary and journeying with her is the appropriate and timely model for discipleship. Success is not the gauge of effective discipleship or leadership but faithfulness is, according to Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Faithfully following in the footsteps of Mary as she followed Jesus is a sure guide for us as we struggle in our daily lives; one who focuses on Jesus through the eyes and examples of Mama Mary will not go astray. 

One early church father says that throughout the history of salvation, God was trying on humanity, gradually suiting divinity and humanity to each other in preparation for the mystery of the Incarnation. All of that preparation was a prelude to the Israelite girl, full of grace, who would say yes to the invitation to be the mother of God. An important detail emphasized in the gospel was that not long after the Annunciation, Mary “set out and traveled to the hill country in haste in a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth” (Luke 1:39-40). For centuries Israel heard the word of Yahweh but more often than not the people were sluggish in responding. Mary, once she heard the word of the Lord, moved! Mary responded not only with humility and obedience but also responded unhesitatingly to God’s promptings.

The story of the redemption of man is completed by the fiat of the lowly maid of Nazareth. Mary’s Yes opened the doors of heaven to those who long for, love and follow her son. Her Magnificat is the supreme proclamation of the greatness of the Lord and in limitless rejoicing for being in God our savior.

In our modern society, when selfishness is the norm rather than the exception, we would do well to emulate Mary’s example of humility and simplicity.  Today, when laws can be enacted to go against what is good and true, Mary’s obedience to the will of God becomes even more the ideal which all of us should strive for.

(Joe Yamamoto, a cardiothoracic surgeon, is a member of the CFC International Council and Chairman of CFC-ANCOP, the community’s work with the poor.)