Jesus had invited me to make a choice: “Continue to live life your way, or believe and follow Me.”
“Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19)
Before the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he first appeared to Zechariah, who’s reaction to the angel was completely customary: terror! It must be stupendous and indeed terrifying to stand face to face with a heavenly being who’s part of an army of angels far more powerful than us human beings.
Now imagine the same angel appearing to a 15-year old Israelite girl!
After completely overwhelming Mary with his presence, he tells her not to be afraid, and – in what can’t be more than a minute or so – goes on to tell her that she has found favour with God and that, despite the fact that she’s a virgin, she will conceive and give birth to the a son! After Mary somehow manages to partially regain her composure and dares to ask the angel how this could possibly happen, Gabriel simply tells her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and therefore the child will be holy and called Son of God”. So nothing to worry about then. And as if that hadn’t caused enough confusion, Gabriel, in an almost “oh, and by the way” type fashion informs Mary that her 90-year old cousin Elizabeth had conceived too and was already six months pregnant, proving that nothing is impossible for God.
You can imagine how flabbergasted Mary must have been! Was that an angel? I will bear a son and he will be called Son of God? God has a son? Isn’t there only one God? And who is this Holy Spirit? Mary was the first to hear about the persons of the Holy Trinity but couldn't possibly have understood it at the time. Instead, she pondered what this all might be.
After the birth of Jesus, when the shepherds came to adore Him and made known what the angels had told them about the child, all who heard it were amazed. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.
At the presentation, when Simeon prophesied that Jesus was destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that would be opposed so that the inner thoughts of many would be revealed, and that a sword would pierce Mary's soul, how could she have understood?
When, as a boy, Jesus disappeared at Passover time, was lost to his parents for three days and then, on finding Him, asked why they didn’t know He had to be in His Father’s house, was beyond Mary's understanding. Yet again, she treasured all these things in her heart.
Mary accepted that what was at work in her Son was a mystery she could never fully understand. That’s why she took and kept all these things and quietly pondered them.
I often wonder about what Mary must have thought. How she must have tried to connect the dots. How she sought to make sense of it all. Although absolutely in no way comparable to the Holy Family, my small family also experiences things we can’t understand. Unexplainable things that happen with and around our daughter Naomi.
Almost half a year ago, on the day of the Assumption of our Blessed Lady, our youngest daughter Sienna woke up in the morning when she heard Naomi make some noise. They both sleep in the same room, so Sienna glanced at Naomi’s bed but found she wasn’t there. Now Naomi can’t move herself so Sienna wondered where her sister was. Walking over to Naomi’s bed, Sienna found Naomi curled up under the chair next to her bed!
Till today, we do not understand how Naomi could have ended up under that small chair. If she would have fallen out of bed and onto the floor tiles, she would have certainly bruised herself. But she had no bruises. Besides, how could she have fallen under a chair, especially given that she can’t crawl or otherwise manoeuvre herself? Even Sienna, who’s fully able plus shorter than Naomi, couldn’t easily crawl underneath that chair when she gave it a try. Even stranger, the pillow that we put between Naomi’s legs so that her knees don’t rub together at night, was still between her legs when Sienna found her under that chair. And she was supporting her head with her hand and arm, despite the fact that she can’t control her arms or hands!
It’s a mystery. And besides wondering about how it happened, we ponder why it happened. And why it happened on the day of Assumption. I hope to some day understand.
There’s hope in that Mary must have grown in understanding too, for at the wedding in Cana she knew that Jesus would perform His first public miracle, revealing His power to those present at her request. So let’s follow Mary’s example, treasure all that we experience and never stop pondering and marvelling at that what we do not yet understand.
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