REAL WOMEN, REAL MOTHER

Today many ask about Mary: Who is she really? Was she like all other women or was she a special creation of God? Did she know joys and sorrows in life to any deep passion like other mothers? Did she ever doubt? Did she ever feel angry? Did she ever have pain in her body? How did she know God – as a prophet, as a mystic, as someone directed and controlled always by a divine force, or as a mother who suffers and yet harbors joy on a daily basis throughout life?

Wisest of scholars, most humble of men and women, greatest of popes, most renowned theologians, and saints have asked all these questions. In contemporary times, women in particular, have carefully considered whether there are any special insights into understanding Mary, the mother of Christ.

Does the experience of motherhood and being a woman shed light on who Mary was? The world today seeks Mary, the woman needed by a society devastated by war, poverty, loss of integrity, and secularism. This Mary is a woman of social justice and liberation. Some in our world seek the love of a woman who has no sexual expectations and represents purity. They find a Mary who is chaste and spotless. Some need a woman of authority, leadership, and power. We have to be cautious, however, not to make Mary for ourselves but to know her as a real person.

Is Mary the mother of liberation? Yes, but perhaps not bound by political contexts in today’s world. Is Mary the comforter? Yes, but perhaps her purity is more centered in holiness than a negative regard for sexuality. Is she powerful in some way? Of course, but she really can’t be considered a woman of power in the world’s way. It is Mary who leads us always to her Son as mother of Christ and mother for the Church -- Christ’s body in the world. She leads us to the power of God. And, she has the power of a mother … which is enduring love.

Mary is disciple, a woman who “understood” the incarnation as it took place in her body. She could see God’s plan to reunite with humanity happening through her own life. As a Beloved One, God seeks to reconcile with humanity. His mother is, in this sense, a “Bride Unwedded,” a phrase adopted for her from ancient ages of the Church.

From creation’s first pulse, God’s love is poured out to humanity like a lover to the beloved, an Un-Seeable Energy proposing marriage to human creatures. What was the reason? The Un-Seeable Energy was a radiation of pure love.

No one knows motherhood like a mother. However, to really recapture who Mary was means we must learn about the fruit of historical, social, biblical, and archaeological studies! As our knowledge deepens, it is imperative to balance scholarly knowledge and theological insights alongside spiritual experience and insights of the faithful, especially faith-filled mothers today.

Those who know Mary in prayer can reveal who Mary is for the Church today. The theology of understanding Mary is called “Mariology.” But theology only stays alive with those who pray and live the Christian life.

Our minds are often alive with curiosity. As we seek to learn details about Mary, what she really was like and what she really experienced, we must proceed in a prayer. Even when Mary asked her own question, “How can this be since I have not been with a man?” … her answer came in prayer. God replied in her heart.