As preached by Sister Cecelia
Holy Wisdom Church
The birthday of the Theotokos is the first feast we celebrate in the Liturgical calendar for the New Year. I just this year noticed that the Feasts in the Liturgical calendar begin with her birth and end on August 15 with her death: the Dormition. The rest of the church feasts are not in such a chronological order, the Exaltation of the Cross being the next feast.
You notice that there is not much in our bible about Mary’s life. There was a lot written, but those writings did not warrant including in our Canonical scripture. Some are far-fetched, so it is a good thing they were not. Many that we do commemorate now have come down through tradition.
What we do observe of Mary’s life is certainly worth our celebrating. What can we learn from her example? In the gospel read this morning, a woman praised Jesus’ mother for bearing and nursing him. Jesus replied that rather she was blessed for hearing the word of God and saying yes.
We learn from tradition that Anna promised Mary from a young age to serve in the temple. Perhaps she learned while there of the promises and hopes for a Messiah. When the shepherds came to see for themselves, and when Simeon and Anna foretold of the pain and joy to come concerning Jesus, Mary said yes. Did she know that her son was the Messiah even then? In caring for Jesus in all the ups and downs throughout their lives, Mary said yes, again and again.
Von Baltazar observed that Mary’s fiat, her yes, is not a once for all consent at the moment of conception but an openness to the work of the Spirit for the duration of her life. She says yes when Jesus all but refuses to obey her at Cana; she must say yes when he is taken into custody and tortured; she must say yes as he slips away on the cross. Even after giving birth to Jesus, Mary never ceases to give birth to Christ within.
The same is true of us – we are blessed when we hear the word of God and say yes to what God is asking of us.
This trusting receptivity becomes the womb from which we too birth Christ in the world; …we too listen to the silent Word spoken in our hearts, urging our consent to birth Christ in the world.
We need to spend our time well. Be careful to not confuse our wants with our needs. Be willing to let our lives change. Recognize our connectedness with everything and everyone. Be willing to labor for Truth against oppression and violence. (as we are directed by truth.)
Jesus said he was the Way, the Truth, and the Life. (John 14:6) It is the attractiveness of the way we live rather than the words we speak that leads others to turn from confusion toward Truth. A test of whether we are praying truly is if we become willing to place our lives unreservedly in God’s hands, as Mary did. We learn to grow in truth and peacefulness, affection and joy. We learn to pray by participating in the lives of other people who pray.
We are not delivered from life’s labors, physical or psychological, nor from life’s problems. A new way of life becomes possible not only because we have turned to God but because we have also turned to other persons around us and have let their lives become part of ours. Our relationship to God parallels our relationship to others.
It is not only humankind but the whole of creation that shares in the life of God. God works in human history only with human co-operation freely given. Let us learn to say yes to God as Mary did, and trust that God gives us what we need.--
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