Luke’s Recollection of Mother Mary
In preparation for this meditation read: Luke 1 and 2; 8:19-21; 11:27-28 and Acts 1:14)
Coming from the Hellenistic culture and knowing how to write well, I decided to present a fuller coverage of Mary of Nazareth. the Mother of Jesus. You are led into my narrative concerns in my introduction (Luke1:1-4). Matthew has already pointed out to you how important that is when reading a Gospel. Yes, I am the portrait painter of Mary. I capture her person and describe her as a rounded character in everything I saw about her in my Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles. It is I who go beyond the shadow of Mary in Paul, the silhouette in Mark and the Matthew sketch of her. I allow her to speak for herself throughout my Gospel. Even though I am not very early in writing about her, I do go back to the earliest moment in her life as presented in the entire array of Marian texts. I carefully constructed the Annunciation account as both a revelation of who she is and also as a story of her calling or vocation. I like the following poem written by a religious Sister who “pondered over” my own Annunciation:
The Annunciation
The moonglow in a Manshape
after a light rain
crooks and staffs
or the limbs of trees
tricking their shadows into angel wings,
the bleat of sheep on a far-off hill
and the whistle of a stiff night wind-
perhaps it was nothing
but that on my pallet I had drowsed into a dream.
Yet the next morning I would have sworn
that there had been a man
or the ghost of a man
who announced himself as Gabriel,
and hailed me “full of grace.”
Yes, hailed, as I were a princess,
a queen, a Roman empress, I . . . .
Perhaps it was nothing
but that on my pallet I had drowsed into a dream,
yet he foretold that I would bear a son,
a son whose name would be Emmanuel,
and I, a simple Hebrew girl, believed
but wondered how,
for there had never been a man . . . .
Perhaps it was nothing
but that on my pallet I had drowsed into a dream
and had awakened only now,
thinking that in my sleep
no man but a ghost called Gabriel . . . .
The moonglow in a manshape
after a light rain,
crooks or staffs
or the limbs of trees
tricking their shadows into angel wings,
and a ghost called Gabriel prophesying
“And the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he shall be king over the house of Jacob forever”–
perhaps it was nothing
but the bleat of sheep on a far-off hill
and the whistle of a stiff night wind.
I deliberately describe Mary as a faithful and first disciple of the Lord Jesus. All of my lines about her point this out. Notice, too, how in the visitation to her cousin Elizabeth she brings the good news to others and thus is the star of evangelization in my Gospel. She is a most joyous and blessed person. She is the personification of what it means to be a beatitude. In a sense, I gave her the titles Blessed Virgin, Blessed Mother.
You will notice that all of the joyful mysteries of the rosary are found in my infancy narrative. I’m glad that the church chose them from my Gospel. Just as Mark gave us a good portrait of Jesus, I give you the best portrait of her that has ever been painted. She is a feeling person–didn’t Simon promise her that a sword of sorrow would pierce her heart. She prays alone, then in the company of the believers in the upper room; she prays in the Temple and fulfills all the rituals of purification. She exults in God and is confident in God’s unconditional love for her people.
Her “Magnificat” is one of the most liberating prayers that has been offered. Her hospitality and attentiveness to the Lord blend in her smiling face. She truly is the Mother of the Lord, who first conceived Jesus through her faith. Her “yes” is a constant Amen to God’s will.
The Holy Spirit is one of my favourite Persons in my Gospel. This Holy Spirit is present at the Annunciation and also in the final appearance of Mary in my second work, the Acts of the Apostles. There she is in the midst of the community of apostles, disciples, relatives and friends of Jesus. She alone among the women is named and once again the Holy Spirit descends and a new creation, the Church, is born. Is it any wonder then that Paul VI calls her mother of the Church? As you see, I could go on and on about this wonderful mother of ours, but I do want to leave some time for John who wrote the Fourth Gospel.
