Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
Original Manuscript:
Most of the paintings and pictures we see of Mary, whether from now or times long past, depict an idyllic vision. She is a well possessed woman somewhere near her early 20s. In many depictions, she is reading a book or in a grand home.
The reality was very different. Mary would have grown up in a poor background in a time when Israel was occupied by the Roman Empire. She wouldn’t have just been a young woman. She would have been a teenager.
And at this young age, an angel comes to her and says that she is about to have a child. Mary knows enough to question how this is even possible. In the back of her mind, she’s probably thinking about something too. She is a betrothed woman who will be come pregnant with a child that isn’t his. In this day and age, she could be stoned to death for this happening to her. At least, she could hope for what Joseph originally plans to do in Matthew’s Gospel: quietly divorce her.
Yet all this is coming from God, and Mary has the amazing amount of faith to trust in the Lord. She has the courage to say “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”
The story of Jesus’ birth isn’t as idyllic as we would sometimes like it to be. It was fraught with danger. That is important for us to remember, especially when times are tough or bad.
Mary knew what it was like to live in uncertainty and danger. She knew what it was like to have it all thrust upon her. Yet she remains to us a great example of faith. Even in the worst times, she trusted God would make all things right in the end. Our hope in following Mary’s example is that we can do the same.