THE GREAT WALL

Monday, June 17th, 2013

 

My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me." - Jim Valvano 

I had a ton of emails to deal with and a talk to prepare, so I pulled an all-nighter last night...... assisted by the Detroit-Minnesota baseball game.

My Tigers got a 5-2 win and took the series from the Twins 2 games to 1. The Twins were tough to beat when they played in the Dome, but the Tigers own them at Target Field. My Tigers are playing some pretty good baseball and are now starting to put a little distance between themselves and others in the AL Central.

CENTRAL	W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	RS	RA	DIFF	STRK	L10	POFF
Detroit	38	29	.567	-	22-10	16-19	336	251	+85	Won 1	7-3	87.9
Cleveland	34	34	.500	4.5	20-13	14-21	318	308	+10	Won 1	4-6	26.0
Kansas City	33	34	.493	5	17-16	16-18	267	248	+19	Won 1	8-2	30.6
Minnesota	30	36	.455	7.5	16-17	14-19	269	298	-29	Lost 1	4-6	5.7
Chicago Sox	28	38	.424	9.5	16-14	12-24	237	273	-36	Lost 4	4-6	2.9

Today is the last full-day of the 4-day program for 18 priests from the mainland. They take-off tomorrow for New York and a few days at Maryknoll. They will then go to Chicago and attend a three week program at DePaul University.

Cardinal Tong will be here for mass at 4:00 pm and then a BBQ on the back lawn. We are hoping for some nice weather!!

Wang Wei left a little while ago for Shenzhen and her flight back to Jilin. It was good having her here again and she did a great job with her presentation to the Chinese Leadership Initiative on Saturday morning. A few of the priests mentioned how helpful it was. Wang Wei has to get back for the final two weeks of the semester at Beihua. She'll be busy with a few tasks before the big Summer English Program at Jilin Medical College gets underway. We have 14 teachers coming to help us this summer!

I had Wang Wei and Jingmei on last night's radio show. It was a lot of fun! Jingmei dazzled them with her English!!

Nurse Li is sporting new glasses these days (and looking quite good in them). She has now been officially assigned to the Pediatric ICU unit at Jilin University Hospital. I really like these iphone self-photos.

Yan Yan e's graduation photo from Wuhan University Nursing school, she graduated earlier this week with a Masters in Nursing Science. (She is in the middle ..furthest to the left) 

Today's gospel and some comments:

You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; and if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.  Matthew 5:38-42

If today’s reading were put into practice, all war would cease immediately; and not only war but every kind of conflict, even minor domestic squabbles.  It is highly improbable, to say the least, that that will ever happen. 

François Mauriac, the great French all-round man of letters, wrote that society always remains criminal – even while many saints live within it.  “Society cannot be excused because in every age there has been a Vincent de Paul or a Francis of Assisi to remind them of it – not so much by their words as by their lives of sacrifice.  But the course of history has not been influenced by the saints.  They have acted upon hearts and souls; but history has remained criminal.”  It can hardly be right to make such a clear distinction (amounting in this case to a separation) between the individual and society: individuals are part of society.  But still there is something in what Mauriac said.  Many people absorb every influence around them without question, but others are shaped by their reaction to those same influences.  The same conditions produce couch potatoes and prophets. 

Society will never be improved by everyone telling everyone else to improve.  A wise friend said to me once, “Let’s not waste our energy criticising what is wrong; let’s just do our own work to the best of our ability.  If it’s any good it will displace what is bad.”  This must be true not only of work but of everything. 

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Father's Day 2013

It is hard to talk about fathers and their roles in the family these days without sounding old fashioned. In a society where many of the icons and celebrities of society are single mothers, in a society where a woman could walk across the block to the fertility clinic and buy herself a child, in a society where fathers are charged and convicted for child abuse when all they are trying to do is teach their children the necessary lessons of life, one could as well ask, “Who needs fathers these days?” Today, Father's Day, it would not be out of place for us to remind ourselves that in spite of all the changes in society, the father remains a very essential figure in the ideal Christian family. This is not a global condemnation of single motherhood since we know that many woman are forced into single motherhood by circumstances beyond their control. But we would like to remind ourselves today that the ideal Christian family remains that of father, mother and child.

Tom has two little kids: Andy, who is five years old, and Charlie, who is four. Tom tries to be a good father to his little boys. He is a handsome young man even though he is as bald as a vulture. One day, the whole family is busy preparing to honour a wedding invitation. Tom goes and shaves himself and goes on to dress up. He comes out a few minutes later and what does he see? Little Andy has gotten hold of his father's electric shaver and shaved a big express way right down the middle of his head. Tom is furious. He says, “Andy! Didn’t I tell you never to play with my shaver. Now you are going to get a spanking you will never forget!” He was just about to administer the spanking when Andy looks up at him and says, “Wait till you see Charlie!” Tom and his wife are simply horrified when they go into the washroom and see their little four-year-old boy with all of the hair gone, looking like a little skinned rabbit. By this time, Tom is really furious. He grabs up Andy and says, “Now you are really going to get it.” Just as he lifts his hand and starts to bring it down, Andy looks up at him with tears in his eyes and said, “But Daddy! We were just trying to be like you!” Well, Andy did not get a spanking, instead he got a hug.

So, who needs fathers these days? Children do. We should have a universal declaration of children’s rights saying that every child has a right to have a mother and a father. This is what people often forget when they discuss divorce. They tend to look only at the interests of the man and the woman. But I think that the party that is most hurt by a divorce is often not the man or the woman but the kids. Kids need fathers just as they need mothers. They need their fathers as role models as much as they need their mothers. A father’s love is different than a mother’s love, and the child needs both in the same way that our bodies need both proteins and carbohydrates in order to achieve a balanced growth.

The crisis of fatherhood in the family contributes to the crisis of faith in our society today. Even though God is pure spirit and therefore cannot be male or female, the Bible usually presents God to us in the image of father. Jesus teaches us in the Lord’s Prayer to call God “Our Father.” Since we go from the known to the unknown, it stands to reason to say that the experience we have of our earthly fathers affects how we visualise our heavenly father. The crisis of faith in many young people today could be related to early life experiences in which the experience of a good and loving father figure was missing.

Let us pray for all fathers today that they may be more faithful to their duties in the family. Let us pray God to give them the moral strength and the economic position they need to become good role models that their children can always look up to. And for all kids who lost their fathers through divorce or death, let us pray that the heavenly Father of us all may show Himself to be their father in such a tangible way so as to fill the vacuum left by the absence of a visible father.

Confirmation Mass at St. Anne's Parish, Stanley!!

A visit with 2 Primary School Classmates...on my way back to China

From left: Brian Barrons, Jeff Maltby and Bill 'Liam" Lynch

I left home early this morning and flew to Minneapolis where I am now sitting in the Delta Lounge waiting for my flight to Hong Kong via Tokyo. 

 

Breakfast with Mom, Gayle, Kelly and Paul

 

I had breakfast this morning with my Mom, my oldest sister, Gayle, my niece, Kelley Kelly, and my nephew Paul.

 

Paul drove up in his pretty nice set of wheels!!!

 

June 9, 2013

When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me."  ~Erma Bombeck

I am home with my Mom for a few days and it feels great to be here. I got up this morning and Mom had a nice pot of coffee waiting for me. We then had mass together in the living room  and then went out to the cemetery to visit Dad's grave. 

 

We stopped at the cemetery early in the morning on our way to visit some friends!

This afternoon we went back to the cemetery to spend more time. Mom checking out the flowers.

With Dad!!

Gone but not forgotten!!

 

Today's gospel and some comments:

Jesus journeyed to a city called Nain,
and his disciples and a large crowd accompanied him.
As he drew near to the gate of the city,
a man who had died was being carried out,
the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.
A large crowd from the city was with her.
When the Lord saw her,
he was moved with pity for her and said to her,
“Do not weep.”
He stepped forward and touched the coffin;
at this the bearers halted,
and he said, “Young man, I tell you, arise!”
The dead man sat up and began to speak,
and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, exclaiming,
“A great prophet has arisen in our midst, ”
and “God has visited his people.”
This report about him spread through the whole of Judea
and in all the surrounding region. Luke 7: 11-17

The miracle of Jesus raising the widow’s son at Nain is often compared to that of Elijah raising the son of the widow of Zarephath, which we have in today’s first reading (I Kings 17:17-24). Yet there are some important differences between the two. Firstly, in Elijah’s raising of the widow’s son at Zarephath, it was the woman who took her problem to Elijah. So there was some kind of solicitation or prayer. In the case of Jesus raising the widow’s son at Nain, the woman did not approach Jesus and no one else did on her behalf. No form of prayer whatsoever was involved. Secondly, in Elijah’s raising of the widow’s son at Zarephath, the woman had earlier proven her faith in the God of Elijah when her jar of meal and jug of oil were miraculously replenished. In the case of the widow of Nain, there was no evidence of faith whatsoever. And thirdly, the widow of Zarephath had done some good deed to the man of God. She had fed him and housed him. The widow of Nain had done no such good deeds that we know of. It is, therefore, easy to see why Elijah should perform a miracle for the widow of Zarephath. But why did Jesus perform this miracle for the widow of Nain? The only plausible answer is that Jesus is simply being true to his nature as God, his nature to love unconditionally, especially those who are in most need of God’s mercy.

Life in Palestine at the time of Jesus was hard, especially for women. Social and economic life was male-dominated and women had to depend on their husbands as bread winners. When a woman’s husband dies, she becomes the responsibility of her grown up son. Without a man to provide for her, a women was reduced to the status of a beggar. Now you can understand why the dying Jesus had to entrust his mother to his friend, John. As an only son, he was fulfilling his duty to provide for his mother. Nobody in traditional Jewish society was more pitiable that a widow who had lost her only son. It was a double tragedy because she was invariable going to live out the rest of her days in abject poverty, sadness and misery. By inviting himself into the situation and turning it around, Jesus is making a statement that it is not God’s will for any human being to live in abject poverty and misery. Jesus is protesting against those societal norms, cultural practices and economic policies that discriminate against women on account of their gender. By reviving her son and giving him back to her, Jesus is re-empowering her and giving her back a reason to hold her head high in the community. Jesus is restoring to this woman her personal integrity, her honour and dignity, as well as her economic and social lifeline that had been taken away by death. As he himself said, “I came that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

Now, if God has unconditional love for all of His children and Jesus came to give us all life and joy in abundance, why is it that some people’s tears are wiped away but not those of others? Well, all of us are like people in a funeral procession. But how many of us would stand still when Jesus puts his hand on the coffin? Think of it. You know the emotions and commotions that go with a funeral procession. In fact, in many cultures, funeral processions are not supposed to stop for anybody. Other people have to stop to allow funeral processions through. But the widow of Nain cooperated in her miracle by stopping the funeral march when Jesus put his hand on the coffin and said to her, “Stop weeping” (Luke 7:11). Many of us in her shoes would shout at Jesus for interrupting our funeral song, push him aside, and continue our funeral march to the cemetery. If the woman of Nain did not stop the funeral procession, Jesus would not have been able to help her, much as he would love to.

Like the widow of Nain, everyone of us is bereft of something that would elevate us to our full dignity as children of God, physically, economically, socially and spiritually. Jesus does not like to see us live in misery and would like to turn our lives from sadness to joy. Today, Jesus asks us to halt the funeral procession and give him a chance to work his miracle of love in our lives. Shall we stop and be still before God and give God a chance to transform our lives? His word to us today is, “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10).

Friday, June 7, 2013....The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

 "No man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true." - Nathaniel Hawthorne 

A full week of meetings have come to an end and I'll be flying home to Michigan tomorrow for a few days with Mom and the family. I'll also have a number of meetings with Friends of China while in Lansing...so it'll be a working holiday!

Some pictures from Maryknoll:

Novitiate classmate, Paul Mei.

Classmates: Fr. Joe Lamar, Steve Baruffi and John Hannan

Steve Baruffi and John Hannan in front of a tree planted in memory of our classmate, Fr.Jose Aramburu.

The plaque in front of the tree in Jose' honor!

Today's gospel and some comments:

Jesus told this parable: ‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance. Luke 15:3-7

In modern languages the heart is associated with the emo­tion of love. But in the Scriptures it was not associated with any emotion in particular; it was rather a symbol of the whole inner life of a person. Great damage has been done to reli­gious sensibility by forcing and feigning the emotion of love.  It has put simulation where there should be a relentless truth­fulness.

The religious images we grew up with were of the ‘repository art’ kind.  They are being replaced by far superior images from the many schools of iconography originating in the Eastern Churches.  There are many icons of Christ, many designating him the “Pantokrator” – the all-powerful one.  Among these icons you could, if you wished, choose one that could be called “the Sacred Heart.”  It is an image of the Sacred Heart, in a sense, but this is visible only in the gesture; the heart remains within. The hands draw one's attention to the heart.  There could hardly be a greater contrast between such icons and the images of repository art.  These show a wounded heart that has been displaced from within the body. This is a caricature of interiority; it is the inner world turned out, like a pocket.  Such a heart, like such a pocket, could hold nothing at all.  The icon, in contrast, does not beg your pity or whine about your sins. It shows the strong Lord of the Gospels revealing the in­ner world in which God's Kingdom must strike root.

Having said that, we have to remember that faith is much more than art-appreciation.  Countless people came to God despite the religious art available in their time – and even through it.  But it is probably equally true that countless people were repelled by it.  A picture says more than a thousand words, and therefore religious images that make Christ and the saints look weak and unreal are destroying something more precious than all art. 

Monday, June 3, 2013

"One ought, every day at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture and, if it were possible, speak a few reasonable words." - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 

 I have a full day of meetings to day, so I am going to post on the blog early and have it out of the way. Here below are pictures of two old friends:

Fr. Leo Kennedy who spent 40 some years in Africa.

My novitiate classmate and good friend, Paul Mei.

Today's gospel and some comments:

Jesus began to speak to them in parables. "A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted. Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.  What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: 'The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is amazing in our eyes'?" When they realised that he had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd.  So they left him and went away. Mark 12:1-12

The vine was a symbol of the people of Israel.  Israel was the vine, a special object of God's care.  
            You brought a vine out of Egypt;
            to plant it you drove out the nations. 
            Before it you cleared the ground;
            it took root and spread through the land.  (Ps 80: 9,10)

Jesus took up this image and made his own of it.  As always, there is a snag in the story.  This is what makes it a story about life rather than a piece of escapism.  Life may have brief passages of plain sailing, but the whole journey is not plain sailing.  Jesus echoes a passage in Isaiah.  “My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill.  He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes” (5:1-2). 

In his treatment of this image Jesus identified himself not as the vine but as the son and heir to the vineyard.   This version has a special meaning for readers of the gospel, who see it with hindsight.  Mark says, “They killed him and threw him out of the vineyard”.  But Matthew reverses the order: “they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him”.  They must have been thinking with hindsight about the way Jesus actually died.  He was led out of Jerusalem and killed outside the city, not killed inside and then thrown out. 

How they see Jesus in every detail, and every detail in Jesus!

Sunday, June 2, 2013.......the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ....and a Reunion with Paulie!!

The Headquarters of Maryknoll in New York!!

If a friend is in trouble, don't annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do.  Think up something appropriate and do it.  ~Edgar Watson Howe

I spent most of  yesterday at Phelps Memorial Hospital in Sleepy Hollow, New York. One of our priests was taken to the hospital by ambulance early yesterday morning and i rode to the hospital with him in the ambulance. He spent a good six hours in the emergency room before being admitted with a case of pnuemonia. The prognosis looks good and hopefully Fr. Bill Galvin will be out of the hospital before too long. Anyway, my plans for what to do on Ordination Day here at Maryknoll were changed!

Today I am getting ready to welcome a novitiate classmate, Paul Mei! Paul left Maryknoll towards the end of the novitiate year. We have remained close friends and it is always good to get together with him. I am looking forward to his visit.

The main chapel at Maryknoll, NY.

The main altar

Our Lady's chapel

The quadrangle

The statue of Our Lady of Maryknoll in the quadrangle

 

My Tigers went ballistic on the Orioles in the 4th inning yesterday and scored eight runs before a batter was retired. They went back to back to back and then loaded the bases for Miguel to swat a slam!

From Pope Francis' Pentecost Homily:  "The Holy Spirit draws us into the mystery of the living God and saves us from the threat of a Church which is gnostic and self-referential, closed in on herself, he impels us to open the doors and go forth to proclaim and bear witness to the goodnews of the Gospel."

Today's 2nd reading and some comments:

Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,
that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me."
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
"This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me."
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes. 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26

What is the most precious gift that Jesus Christ  gave to his church? I do not mean the gift of the Holy Spirit. I have in mind  things that we can see and touch. Many people will say, “the Bible.” The Bible  is indeed an invaluable gift of God, but Jesus did not write a Bible for the  church nor did he commission his disciples to write one. The most precious gift  that Jesus gave to his church is that which we celebrate today, the gift of his  own body and blood in the form of bread and wine. Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.

The short reading we have today from Paul’s first  letter to the Corinthians is very important for Bible historians. This is  because the words of Jesus in this passage are the earliest recorded words of  Jesus that we have. We know that the words of Jesus are recorded in the gospels  and other New Testament books. But Paul’s letters were written some twenty to  fifty years before the gospels and theses other New Testaments books were  written.

Paul begins by telling the people of Corinth that  the tradition of celebrating the Lord’s supper is one that goes back to Jesus  Christ himself. “For I received from the Lord  what I also handed on to you” (1 Corinthians 11:23). Paul did not  personally receive this tradition from the Lord, since he was not one of the  twelve apostles present at the Last Supper. He received the tradition from those  who were Christians before him, after his conversion to the Christian faith. Now  he is handing on to the Corinthians the same tradition that he himself received.  The only difference is that whereas up till the time of Paul the tradition was  passed on by word of mouth, Paul was the first to put it down in writing because  he could not be there physically with the Corinthians.

What is the tradition that Paul received and is  now passing on? It is this:

that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed  took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This  is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he  took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my  blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." (1  Corinthians 11:23-25)

The night he was betrayed was the last night that  Jesus spent with his disciples before his passion and death. In olden days,  people did not write their wills. They spoke their wills, usually as their last  words before death. What do these words of 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 tell us when  we read them as the last words, the will and testament of Jesus?

First, the will of Jesus does not say a word  about what Jesus taught. Its focus is on what Jesus did. He gave his body to his  followers as food and his blood as drink. Remember, this was taking place in the  context of the Passover meal. So Jesus was presenting himself as their Passover  lamb. The Israelites in Egypt had to eat the flesh of the Passover lamb to  identify themselves as God’s own people. They marked their doorposts with its  blood as a sign to keep away the angel of death. Every Israelite was supposed to  participate in this ritual every year to renew their identity as God’s people  who enjoy God’s special blessings and protection. Seen in this light, the  Eucharist becomes for us the place where we come to renew ourselves as God’s new  people in Christ.

Second, the will speaks of a “new covenant.” In  the Old Testament the people of God came into being through a covenant. By  speaking of a new covenant Jesus is saying that a new people of God has come  into being. In the sacrifice that seals the covenant Jesus is both the  officiating priest and the lamb of sacrifice. We are just the beneficiaries of a  life-giving grace. That is why the name “Eucharist” (“thanksgiving”) is so  appropriate. Jesus did it all for us. All we have to do is receive it and give  thanks.

Finally, the will of Jesus invites us to the  banquet. “Do this in remembrance of me … Do  this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (verses 24-25).  Folks, this is the last thing Jesus asked us to do before he died. He asked to  keep doing it as often as possible until his return in glory (verse 26). Why  then is it that many of us take the Eucharist so lightly? We seem to be so ready  to skip attending Mass at the slightest excuse: “I just didn’t feel like going …  We were on vacation … I don’t like Pastor John’s preaching, I seem to get more  from the TV service.” But no amount of television programming can take the place  of holy communion. Let us today ask our Lord Jesus to increase our faith in the  sacrament of his body and blood which he gives us in the form of bread and  wine.

May 31, 2013......The Feast of the Visitation.....From Maryknoll, New York

 The past is a good place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.  ~Author Unknown

I arrived in New York last night after the long flight from Hong Kong via Tokyo. I am here for a week of meetings which begin later this afternoon. Tomorrow one of our men will be ordained to the priesthood, and later today another will take his final oath to Maryknoll. So it should be a good weekend.

I brought my camera along with me and hope to be able to provide pictures while I am here. I won't be writing much in the days ahead, but look for some photos!!

Today's gospel and some comments:

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfilment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
And Mary said,
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
     and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour,
    for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant.
     Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
     for the Mighty One has done great things for me,
     and holy is his name.
    His mercy is for those who fear him
     from generation to generation.
    He has shown strength with his arm;
     he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
    He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,
     and lifted up the lowly;
    he has filled the hungry with good things,
     and sent the rich away empty.
    He has helped his servant Israel,
     in remembrance of his mercy,
    according to the promise he made to our ancestors,
     to Abraham and to his descendants for ever.’
And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home. Luke 1: 39-56

When the Roman emperor Nero saw his immense palace, the domus aurea, finally completed, he said, “Ah, at last a house fit for a man!”  Many who are less extreme than he (there have been very few who were more) would still think of human life as consisting in some degree of success, power, recognition….

By every standard of the day, Mary was only barely human.  She was not only female in a world ruled by men, she was unmarried (though betrothed); she was young in a world that valued age; she was poor in a world that saw poverty as God's curse; she was a peasant remote from the centers of power.  Yet the Liturgy calls her “the greatest honor of our race.”  (Incidentally, did the person who composed that line forget about Jesus at that point?)  ‘Human’ must mean something deeper than power, recognition, and the rest. 

Was she powerless then?  “I am the servant of the Lord,” she said, “let it be done to me according to your word.”  Does this confirm her in her identity as a powerless woman, passive and dependent?  If so, then it confirms all women in that identity.  But more: it confirms all disciples, all Christians – for Mary is seen as the perfect disciple, the model for all disciples, men as well as women.   

As she crossed the hill country to visit her elderly cousin, she was not bearing a child for her husband, as other women did.  She was in the role of a prophet.  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you,” as later the Spirit would later overshadow Jesus at the Transfiguration (Luke 9:34), and the group of disciples in the upper room (Acts 1:8).  In her, God is doing a new thing.  She does not model conventionality and social compliance; she is in the line of Old Testament valiant women, as her Magnificat makes clear.  In her the spiritual paradox of power and powerlessness is plain to see.