mary’s christmas
December 25th, 2011 § Leave a Comment
At the front of Notre Dame cathedral there’s a statue of a cross.
But unlike other crucifixes, Jesus is not hanging on this cross. Instead, his lifeless body is lying in the arms of his mother Mary, who is kneeling at the foot of the cross weeping over her crucified son.
It’s easy to remember Mary as the virgin who received the good news from the angel…
witnessed the arrival of the Word made Flesh …
who knelt by the Manger watching Emmanuel take His first breaths…
But Mary’s life was not always so enviable.
For the rest of her life, people who didn’t believe in the Immaculate Conception accused her of lying about her relationship with Joseph or, worse, of selling herself to Roman soldiers.
She listened to people call her Son a charlatan and a lunatic. And finally, she watched as her Son was killed by the ones He’d come to rescue.
Mary was the conduit through which God poured His love for the world. But that love cost her everything. And, as she watched the world reject her Son, it broke her heart.
When God appears in our lives, we anticipate the blessings of joy and hope His presence will bring. But the Notre Dame statue of Mary reminds us that God’s work in our lives also brings conflict and struggle and pain.
Today – in our joy and in our sorrow – we worship the Messiah in the manger.
We kneel in awe of the God who is Love.
And we remember that this Love cost Mary dearly, and it broke her heart.
But in the end – it saved the world.
