Sisters talk 2

Lent has the Stations of the Cross which is a way of getting into the story of the last journey of Jesus When thinking about this I thought of the Journey of Mary and how her stations might be able to help us through Advent. I have chosen 7 significant parts of the story of Our Lady which we will briefly explore. They will be the Annunciation, The Visitation the Journey to Bethlehem, The Birth of our Lord, the flight into Egypt, The Prophecy of Simenon and the Loosing of the Child in the Temple.

The Annunciation: LK1:26-37

Probably the greatest story of Vocation. It is the call of Mary. How must she had felt? Scared, apprehensive, maybe a little in wonder. Mary is greeted by the Angel “Greetings” he says or hello or simply rejoice. It seems that Luke probably wants us to see that this invitation is one of Joy. We see this joy reflected in the prophets for the people to rejoice at coming of the Messiah. The next thing that we notice is what the Angel says to Mary that she is blessed and that the Lord is with her. Luke shows us that she is prepared and chosen for this mission of being the Mother of the Messiah. You can understand that she was troubled by this news. Although troubled look what she does. Says yes she understands her Vocation and her Mission and accepts it and embraces it. Although undoubtedly troubled scared she says still says yes.   This can also be our experience. Sometimes we do not understand God’s ways. We do not understand the significance of what our superiors are asking of us we should try our best to be like Mary in this story and put our trust in the Lord and let “ His will be done” Mary’s Vocation and yes can also be our Yes.

Mary’ Journey starts:

2/ The Visitation. LK1:39-56

The opening of this part of the Gospel is very curious “Mary set out at that time and went as quickly we she could to a hill country of Judah” Now there are two explanations to this. First that she had heard about her Cousin Elizabeth who was also with Child and she wanted to see her quickly to expectant mothers together both as it were miracle babies. The other explanation could be that Mary was now pregnant and an unmarried Mother to be and she did not want to cause her family anxiety so she went quickly. Both, for me seem to be plausible. But she went quickly. Also in this passage we get that great hymn of praise the Magnificent.  She had been chosen and her womb was blessed. It seems that all the fear we heard about in the previous part of the chapter had now disappeared. She was able to rejoice in what the marvels the Lord and done to her. Drawing on her knowledge of what the messiah would be from the prophets this biblical hymn of praise shows us the nature of the Messiah. This also I think sets out for us what Luke’s concern is and that is the poor and marginalised.

We are told then that she stayed about 3 months and then went back home. Although when you went on a journey in those days you made sure that you stayed a while.

3/Journey to Bethlehem.

Listening to this story of the Journey to Bethlehem we can often get the impression that the Journey was not that long. The journey from Nazareth in Galilee down to Bethlehem was a long Journey and here was Mary and expectant single Mother on her way to get registered in the place of Joseph’s ancestral home. It must have been difficult and harsh but they managed it. They must have really looked after each other but the journey must have also been very difficult. It reminds me of our own journey in following what the Lord wants of us that it can often be long and hard and wonder if it’s all worth it.

4/The Birth if Jesus Lk:2

For the most important event in human history there seems to be very little about the Birth of Jesus itself. There seems to be a lot around the events in Luke’s account But there is just one line “So they hurried away and found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in the Manger” Our account of Jesus’s birth has grown up around some of the hymns that we sing at Christmas. One of the one that is really quite wrong is Away in the Manger. “ No crying he makes” well any mother will tell you that if a baby does not cry when it is born and gets air into the lungs there is something seriously wrong. I have to say there must have been a great sense of relief for the Mary and Joseph that at last here was Jesus their Son. Learn from Mary here all good things come to those who wait and that expectant wait of Mary has come to its conclusion.

5/The Flight into Egypt: Matthew:13-18

The one thing that we notice about Matthew’s Gospel is that it is full of quotes from the Prophets. Matthew is writing for the Jewish people and wants to tell them that Jesus is the Messiah. It must have been difficult for the Holy Family not to go straight home but to go somewhere different they were refugee’s asylum seekers looking to get away from trouble from an oppressor who wanted to Kill Jesus. Sounds slightly familiar. When we wage through the Immigration debate let us not forget the Holy family

6/Jesus is in the Temple LK:2 22-52

I have lumped three stories here together There are three lovely stories here about the Holy Family. Being a good religious family according to Luke on the way home to Nazareth (notice in Luke there is no flight into Egypt) they make their way to Jerusalem and especially to the Temple to circumcise Jesus and present Jesus to God in the Temple. This story together with the meeting of Simeon and Anna tell us something of what Jesus will be in the future. Simeon states that he has seen the salvation of the Lord he has seen the Messiah. He will be the hope of Israel. Anna this holy Woman shows us something about worship of the Lord at all times. Praying and being at prayer.

Jesus later in this chapter shows us something else too. He gets lost. It is the only glimpse we get of Jesus as a child they travel to Jerusalem for Passover and they lose Jesus they look for him everywhere. It takes them three days to find him in the Temple. Imagine the frantic looking of Mary and Joseph losing their Son for 3 whole days finding him in the Temple talking to the elders of the things of God. His parents do not fully comprehend who Jesus is and what he is about.