'blessed is she who believed that the promise made her by the Lord would be fulfilled' Luke 1:45
My next post was going to be about sparrows, more specifically the question 'am I really worth more than lots of sparrows?' And maybe I will still write that post, but today's readings for the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary began to answer my question for me, and as always, it wasn't a straight forward yes or no!
What I started to ponder was the lowliness of Mary several aspects came to bear. She is a woman, she needs to be looked after by a man, tradition suggests she was very young at the time of her calling, and she doesn't have the power to make her own way in the world. As far as the world is concerned she is not particularly interesting or important. Now, that begins to ring true with me. With a stressful job hunt, and not much in the way of response from potential employers, the prospect of unemployment looming ever closer, and knowing that I will have to rely on others for my shelter and food, I feel lowly.
Somehow though, Mary can embrace this state where perhaps, I haven't been able to. She has a strong and deep faith that assures her of the faithfulness of God to his children, especially the lowly. In her great song of praise she quotes from Job, saying that God has exalted the lowly. This tells us that her faith is rooted in the promise of scripture.
Mary, embraces her lowliness, and consents to sacrifice even more to her Lord. By becoming pregnant while still unmarried, she consents to both bodily and social vulnerability, this obedience founded on her belief in the immeasurable power of God. This is an honour, true, but also danger and deep responsibility, and her answer to the Lord gives all power over her fate to him.
It is the marriage between the power of God, and the obedience of Mary which allows this lowly maiden to be lifted high. She rightly says that 'all generations will call me blessed.' We do, and we do especially today.
So perhaps I can learn from Mary about being lowly. My childhood prayer was to be like her, and now God is giving me that chance, to see what it is to be lowly, to depend on his strength and to obey his command.
As it says in the quote above, she has faith in the promise God has made to her. God makes promises, and sometimes, we just have to believe that it will come to pass.
