The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the Holy One who is conceived in you will be called the Son of God.
-Luke 1:35
Whaaaaaaaa?
I'm pregnant?
With the Son of God?
And you are the angel of the Lord?
JOOOOOOSEPH!!
Happy Mother's Day Mary!
With Love, XO
God
I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing Mary took her Mother's Day card, ripped it up into tiny pieces, threw it on the ground and stomped on it until the miniscule pieces were mashed into the dirt floor. She then made Joseph pick up the pieces and try to reassemble the card, because she felt bad for being so irrational.
Mary did get it together and later embody an attitude of acceptance and grace -- even sing her praises for God, in the Magnificat. Her cousin Elizabeth was readily impressed and touched by Mary's fortitude and faith. All the while, being a hormonal wreck herself, pregnant with John the Baptist.
The Blessed Virgin Mary immaculately conceived a child, when she was a just a child, that was to be the Son of God. An angel named Gabe communicated the news and her fiance' almost left her because of it. She gave birth in a barn and three random men showed up with perfume and gold shortly thereafter. Mary didn't even get to name her baby -- a divine force circumvented and named him pre-birth.
Mary's path to motherhood wasn't exactly idyllic. Little choice, unfathomable circumstances, coupled with awkward and embarrassing conversations with her future husband hypothetically made for an uneasy pregnancy and birth.
However, what the Bible portrays from the Annunciation forward, is she was God's faithful servant, at peace with her mission, ready and willing to serve God. How, I don't know. I can't wrap my head around it. I still wonder if she was chanting, 'Be the vessel. Be the vessel,' just to make it through the day.
Different faith traditions have vastly divergent views and interpretations of who Mary was and her role in the church and in Christianity. I am not here to say who is right and who is wrong. I am here to simply say she was a badass. Plain and simple.
She was a mother. She was a wife. She was a servant of God. Her faith, love and sacrifice was on another level. Her selfless and resolute love for Jesus and his teachings was extraordinary. Some say her actions portrayed weakness, but I think she was strong. Intelligent. Loving. Fierce. Compassionate. Vulnerable.
The Marys in my life are also superior and strong women. Their birth mothers thought so highly of Mary, the mother of Jesus, they named their daughters after her.
My paternal grandmother, Mary, was a college educated woman who liked to read, write, and say the rosary multiple times a day. She also birthed thirteen children; the eldest named Mary Karen, including a set of fraternal and identical twins. She had a cathedral sized statue of Mary on her landing. I used to think she put Mary there to scare the bejeezus out of us grandkids. Now I know she had her there as moral support. A friend, a confidant. And, maybe to still scare the bejeezus out of us.
My maternal grandmother Rita beat polio, went to a Normal school for teaching, and almost beat cancer. She named her youngest daughter Mary Kay, had a granddaughter named Mary Carol, and sisters-in-law named Mary Ella and Rosemary. Her favorite hymn was Ave Maria. Her other granddaughter's middle name is Marie, a form of Mary.
When my husband was first acclimated into the family, I advised him to just call out, 'Mary' if he didn't know someone's name. Assuredly, someone would answer.
The women in my life named Mary aren't just a coincidence. The Blessed Virgin Mary was a symbol of faith, grace, love, and strength. These women embody the soul and spirit of Mary, but also of mothers and women. They care, they coalesce, they want what's best for their children, even if it means sacrifice and strain on them. They lovingly do so. Do not have pity or self-loathing for them. Be grateful. Be merciful. Be a badass. Be proud of the Mary's in your life. Say a prayer. I guarantee they pray for you.
Hail Mary, full of grace.
Our Lord is with you.
Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
Happy Mother's Day to Mary and all the women who embody grace, strength, and sacrifice for those they love and cherish.