For many, many years, I was not speaking terms with Mary.
I remember more or less when the door between us closed. I was between 12-14 years old, the same age many believe Mary was when visited by the archangel Gabriel, as we heard today in our Gospel lesson.
I was in the 7th grade when an associate pastor in my Roman Catholic parish, St. Colman’s, allowed another girl and me to be altar servers – a task back then reserved exclusively for boys. It was at a noon mass attended at most by five old women. It was a riveting experience for me. I felt at home. And those twenty minutes at the altar did more to put me in touch with God than my all my years of formal religious instruction. However, that was the last time I was allowed to serve at mass. The senior pastor found out -- and we were forbidden ever again to serve at the altar. The senior pastor never met with us personally to explain his position. He never asked for our reflections on our experience. In the eight years I went to school at St. Colman’s, he never once had a conversation with me – never once said hello -- never once addressed me by name.
However, we were reminded, almost daily, to follow Mary’s example. Why-- as Mother of God -- didn’t she have the greatest calling of all? Imitate the Virgin and there you will find fulfillment. Seek motherhood. Be chaste. Meek. Lowly. Humble. Long-suffering. And if you’re one of the lucky ones, maybe you’ll be called to a special vocation—to be a bride of Christ -- to be a nun. That is what we were told, in one way or another over the years. Our calling was not at the altar or the pulpit or an office -- but in the convent or the kitchen.
What do we make of Mary -- this Jewish woman-- mother of Jesus-- this Christian saint -- who happens also to be deeply venerated by Hindus and Muslims as well? In fact, Mary is named more times in the Koran than she is in the New Testament. Whatever we make of Mary, she is the most known and venerated female religious figure in Western history.
So, Mary is here to help us prepare in these final hours of Advent for Christmas. Mary is here help us embrace Jesus and his path of loving service more fully. Our scripture provides us with information on Mary that had I known earlier, the door might not have remained closed for so long.
I wished I had known, for example, that Mary’s name in the Hebrew was Miriam. Although it was a very common Hebrew name, there is only one well known Miriam in the Hebrew Scriptures, the sister of Moses. Miriam is called a prophetess in Exodus. 15. I wish I had known that Mary bore the name of a prophet and the most renowned female leader of the Hebrew people’s liberation from slavery in Egypt.
The Angel Gabriel found Mary in the insignificant and predominantly Gentile town of Nazareth -- not in the Holy of Holies in the Great Temple of Jerusalem. It was Mary, the young, insignificant girl -- living in a hick town -- and not a wise old priest -- who believes in God’s promise. I wish I knew God’s plans especially make room for the young and inexperienced and overlooked. Like us. Like Mary.
I wished I had known that when Luke wrote that Mary was “greatly perplexed and ponders the angel’s greeting” that she was not fearful of the divine messenger, as what happens to others in the Bible who encounter angels. Mary instead was perplexed by the greeting -- that she is highly favored. I wish I had known that she was probably perplexed because she was greeted in the first place -- girls in her culture were rarely considered important enough to acknowledge -- and that Gabriel’s greeting, was a salutation given to important people in the scriptures, people like Moses, Samuel, Noah, David, and Samson, not to girls.
Luke says Mary “pondered” the angel’s greeting. I never knew that Mary is the only female for whom this word is used in the Christian Scriptures. Scribes ponder. Pharisees ponder. Characters in Jesus’ parables ponder. The disciples ponder as they all grappled with Jesus’ amazing teachings. In all the these cases, the pondering led to conflict or indecision. Mary’s pondering is different. It leads to faith. Mary sets the example of what faithful, open, thoughtful discernment is about.
Mary called herself “servant of the Lord.” To be honest, I always heard it translated “handmaid.” “Behold the handmaid of the Lord.” Remember that translation anyone? I wished I had known it was the exact same title used for very esteemed people, people like Abraham, Moses, David-- people who played key, pivotal roles in salvation history. “Servants of the lord” is a common title used for prophets. Jesus would follow his mother’s footsteps when he says, “I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27). So here was Mary. A nobody from a nowhere place acting as a prophet. A ponderer. A servant. A fearless risk taker who says yes to God. I wish I had a friend like Mary, back then, when I was twelve. Don’t you?
Once, a long time ago, Mary conveyed limitations, impossibilities. Now she opens up new horizons. Like Mary, God wants to manifest a miracle in our lives. We too are called to be servants of the Lord. Today God tells us in Mary – that we too bring Jesus into the world. Us. We might feel insignificant and from nowhere, but God has made us somebody important, somebody who can do amazing things out of love. We too can say yes.
Underneath it all, there’s a part of us that yearns to be twelve again. Maybe to have the chance to experience life’s possibilities -- a time when angels still appear -- where we are still capable of simple acceptance, awe and wonder. To be twelve 13 or 14, when we are so connected to the stories of our heroes or heroines.
God’s gift to us today, this 4th Sunday of Advent, is not just the promise of Jesus -- but the gift of how to be twelve again. To be like Mary at 12. To be like Jesus when he was 12 – already teaching the elders in the Temple. Remember that story? Where were you when you were 12? 13? 14? Studying, dreaming, open to the world unfolding in front of you. Ready to try new things. Imagine seeing your 12-year-old self through the eyes of God – full of potential, open to the impossible, ready to say yes to a journey that will forever change your life – and the lives of others. 12 years old and open to the transformational power of love. That’s where God wants of us today.
Today, let us take time and find that twelve-year-old inside of us. 12 and open to visions. 13 and open to the impossible. 14 and pondering faith. It’s all there, you know. Inside of you. You never lost it – it’s just got covered up with years of adult doubts and fears. Today don’t let anything keep you away from the dreams God has for you. Just believe and trust. Like a 12-year-old. Like Mary. Amen.