Our Mother Mary was a simple girl, born into a poor, peasant, Jewish family who lived in Nazareth and was engaged to Joseph, who was a carpenter. Before her marriage to Joseph, she was visited by the angel, Gabriel who told her that she as going to carry and give birth to the Son of God while she was still a virgin. She was to name Him, Jesus. Joseph was also visited by an angel and told of God’s plan to have Mary be the mother of His Son, Jesus meaning, “He will save His people from their sins.” and he was to take her as his wife in which he did.
Those days of Mary and Joseph’s time was not like it is today. We have no concept of the scandal of what Mary and Joseph were asked to do especially during that time frame. The whispers and the rumors that they had to endure simply because they did God’s will. We have no idea of the strength that it must have taken to say “Yes” to God.
Did Mother Mary know that approximately thirty-three years later, that she would have to stand at the foot of the cross and witness the most atrocious killing of a man who was put to death simply because He was a King and the Son of God that the people rejected?
Did Mother Mary’s heart and body and soul weep like we do when we see an injustice act carried out, all because our God dared to come down to Earth and send to us the Son of Man in order to save our souls?
Yet she stood by that cross and grieved and wept and mourned and still had hope in God’s plan for a future that she could not see. She stood in faith and trust at that time without knowing how any of it could be redeemed or changed.
It is through her strength that Mother Mary teaches us that we can still stand in the midst of the craziness in this world without understanding the meaning or purpose and still know that when we put our trust and faith in God, He will show us the way out. She teaches us to stand and be brave when our hearts are breaking because we know that our God goes ahead of us to save us from what’s ahead and what we cannot yet see will happen. She teaches us to stand and be faithful in our sorrows because she came to know that the rain will stop when the storm ends. She teaches us to stand and keep praying for the strength to go on when we have nothing left because she knows our God through His Son, Jesus. After all, she carried Him, loved Him, taught Him and watched Him die on that cross and yet, had hope because He rose from the grave three days later. That, my friend, is a true woman of strength.
What did I learn from this? I’ve learned that with sorrow can come joy. I’ve learned that I am stronger when I lean on my faith in God and I know that He will carry me through. I know that pain of loss and the joy of discovery while certainly not to the point of our Mother Mary but I can empathize with her in what she went through. She has taught me to not take my eyes off of Jesus and that even when there are things that I struggle with, she points the way to what it truly means to live a faithful life. She is the model that we all should strive to be in this life that we live in now, by showing us that the strength to stand up and keep going comes from trusting in God’s plan and not our own.
So, what can you gain from this? It’s never easy to be strong in the midst of our struggles. Sometimes, all we see are the scars that we carry and not the strength that it is taking us to keep going. Our God sees you, though. He knows your heart and knows that your soul may long for peace and acceptance and an unconditional love that accepts you as you are but never leaves you there. Realize that you too can be a woman or man of strength. Just stand up and have some faith that our God will get you there.
A Joyful Mission 