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Mary Christmas!
During Advent, members of the A Nun’s Life community will be posting reflections on the Jesse Tree and the O Antiphons.
Day 15 :: Mary written by Sister Maxine
Artwork by He Qi
With Christmas just around the corner, ‘tis the season for Nativity sets. They seem to be everywhere – at churches, the grocery store, schools, my neighbors’ front lawns. Inside each of them is the familiar figure of Mary, about to give birth to Jesus.
In some of the Nativity sets, Mary wears a blue and white flowing gown and is surrounded by dramatic lighting. In others, she looks like a travel-weary young woman in threadbare clothing. In one very unusual Nativity set Mary is wearing a 1960s style peasant blouse and a long brown skirt probably made of organic material (Joseph was wearing sunglasses).
The various images of Mary make me think about the various Marys in my life, and the ways they symbolically give birth to something new. There are the two Marys who received me into the IHM congregation, certainly a life-changing moment for me. There is the good friend Mary whose death at an early age awakened in me a profound sense of the beauty of life. There is the Mary who was my first encounter with Vatican II theology and, to my astonishment, talked about an imminent, loving, caring God and a Church known as the People of God.
So as I go by the Nativity sets this year, I say a prayer for all the Marys in my life, the Marys who are the source of new life not only for me but in all the relationships around them. Thank you, Marys!
Who are the Marys that you know who bring forth new life? How have they affected you?
Mary, be with us as we seek to be a source of new life and hope in the world, to be the bearer of Christ to all we encounter in our life
* * Want to revisit the other symbols of Advent? Click here on Jesse Tree. * *
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{ 3 comments }
dearest sr. maxine, i love this post. i am especially grateful for the mary who told you about a loving god.
i have a mary who used to be my grade school principal, a bvm, who isso positive about life that i know i can call her any time and be uplifted. i have a mary who brings me food when i am sick and who laughs at my stupid jokes. i had a mary who loved me like a sister when my own sister didn’t and a mary who taught me social justice.
mary christmas to you, maxine.
Mary Christmas to you too, Marla, and to Mary BVM
(mary bvm actually lives in chicago!)