|
Alleluia! Christ is risen. Still and always. Alleluia!
But where is Mary, his mother?
Today, May 1, is Mary’s day. Around the world, statues of the Blessed Mother, Mary the mother of God, are adorned with crowns of flowers. People make offerings of bouquets, and May Poles are part of the celebration, too. It has me thinking of the connection of Mary the Mother of God—Jesus’ mother—with Eastertide.
Where was this Mary when all those resurrection appearances happened? We do not hear from her or about her directly; she is strangely absent until the very last day of Easter, the day of Pentecost. Was she among the women to whom “two men in dazzling clothes” appeared in the Gospel of Luke? We have Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, but the others are unnamed. Matthew only names “Mary Magdalene and the other Mary.” Surely, he wouldn’t talk about Jesus’ mother this way.
What were those days like for the missing Mary? She must have been in the Upper Room. Indeed, in Acts (1:14) she is present with those who returned there after Jesus’ Ascension.
My sense is that she was there the whole time, with Jesus' followers, first in their horror and grief. She may well have been there, too, when the first news of the resurrection was proclaimed to the women who went to the tomb to complete the anointing of Jesus’ body.
I wonder: would she have recognized her son right off, or did the tears of grief blind her initially? Or perhaps the resurrected Christ, singing with his full glory, was so changed in her eyes that he was truly hidden from her. In any case, I imagine a certain “too good to be true” confusion and joy, like some of the others who were blessed with an appearance.
The answer is that we just don’t know—at least not through the text. There is much written about her, perhaps more than enough doctrine. Immense devotion to her arose and remains in some parts of the Christian family.
Beyond that, there is a teaching that she was a leader in the emerging church. Check out the 7th century Life of the Virgin by Maximus (or pseudo-Maximus) the Confessor. He claims to gather the stories from the Life from many ancient sources.
It is inconceivable to me that she simply faded into the background and lived a quiet life. Her devotion to her son and her presence with the community he gathered is clear. It is well-documented now that women were leaders in the early church before their ministries were suppressed—or went underground. Mary was one of these women.
I could go on and on. But here: who is she to you, this remarkable woman who mothered Jesus the Christ—crucified and risen. What do you think happened to her? And what does she contribute to your life of faith?
I pray to know more of her significance then and now as I explore these questions. I’d love to hear from you! You can respond to this email, and I’ll get it, or write to me at companionsma@gmail.com.
| 
