Question from Ed …

Hello, What is the best book on Our Lady? Something not too sweet / saccharine on the one hand, nor too dry / academic / theological on the other. I don’t that about much about Our Lady and want to learn more. Thank you.

Annunciation by He Qi, 2001

First, of course, consult Scripture! That is our primary source for what we know about Mary.

Second, I must confess that I tend to swing towards the more theological side of things but I think you’ll find some some of that very accessible and engaging.

Third, talk to Mary herself! We are blessed to live in and with the Communion of Saints meaning holy people like Mary are with us always. So spend some time in quiet and be open to Mary’s presence with you. Sometimes it is helpful to use Scripture as an entry way to prayer in this regard. Take a passage with Mary in it and imagine that you are in that scene (the Nativity, in the Temple for Jesus’ Presentation, at the Wedding Feast of Cana, at the Cross, etc.). Allow your imagination to wander and interact with the people and things in the scene. Praying with your imagination is a great form of prayer!

And finally, BOOKS and articles!

The best book I know on Mary by far is Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints by Sister Elizabeth A. Johnson. Now it does have that word “theology” in it, but I have to say, you just might want to give it a whirl. As a first step, perhaps, read this review by Nancy Hawkins in America magazine: Spirit-Filled Companion (June 9, 2003). I love this book because it gives us a real-life sense of Mary that takes account of her real-life circumstances and tries to free Mary from some of the unfortunate accretions of her story over time. Another way to see if you’ll like this book is to read Sister Elizabeth’s article for Catholic Update in 2001: In Search of the Real Mary.

The next place I’d go for resources on Mary is over to my friends at Loyola Press. Loyola Press is a Jesuit ministry and have a fantastic collection of writers and resources on all things Catholic. I used to work there and can say from personal experience that they have a great grounding in theology and the faith. Their materials are top notch. Here’s a few on Mary I’d recommend (en español tambien):

• Mary: Jesus’ Mother–And Ours: Six Weeks with the Bible (Catholic Perspectives) by Kevin Perrotta
• Mary and the Saints: Companions on the Journey in the “Catholic Basics” series
• Mary, The Compassionate Mother: A Part of the Somos católicos Series by Virgilio Elizondo

Ed, I’m sure the A Nun’s Life Community has a bunch of suggestions too so check back here to see the comments folks leave on the blog post here! Blessings to you!

We offer this Saints Novena in gratitude for the ways God lives and moves and has being in the lives of all the saints who are part of this online community. We give thanks for you and for the gift of God that you are to us and to the world. It is because of people like you that there is this awesome place of hospitality and gospel community. This novena is written by the A Nun’s Life Community.

1Saints Novena – Mary our Sister – by “Bcoop”

Reflection: With an elevated title like “Mother of God”, we might forget that Mary was a young Jewish girl from Palestine. She lived in a Country dominated by a foreign power, knew the violence of occupation, of fear, of anger at injustice, and probably joined in lamenting the slowness of Israel’s God in rescuing the people. Mary spent her days doing the routine stuff of life, like going to the village well to draw water for her family or learning to cook as her mother did. She went to the Temple as the Law of Moses prescribed. She learned to listen to what was in her heart. One day, she became pregnant with new life and we all know where that led. We might think that because she was Jesus’ mother she is elevated beyond anything we might aspire to. But when Jesus praises her, it is because she had open ears and a responsive heart to God’s Word.

Like Mary we are pregnant with God’s own life. We are called to give birth to that life in our world and our circumstances. Mary shows us the way in her example of hearing God’s Word and acting with it.

Prayer: Be our companion on this journey dear sister Mary. Teach us the ways of wisdom as you taught your son Torah. Encourage us by your strength, inspire us by your attentiveness, and be our midwife in witnessing to Christ in our life.

Suggested Reading:

• Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints by Elizabeth A. Johnson
• Dangerous Memories: A Mosaic of Mary in Scripture by Elizabeth A Johnson
• Miryam of Judah: Witness in Truth and Tradition by Ann Johnson

Join A Nun’s Life Community for a day of events in honor of All Saints! See the schedule for the day’s events in the sidebar to the right. And please consider participating in A Nun’s Life fundraiser going on now through November 9. We need to raise $10,000 for much needed equipment and supplies. See our fundraiser page for more information. You may be eligible to win a brand-new iPad 2!

Cheers for the U.S. federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph for their public show of support for their sister Elizabeth Johnson!

Elizabeth Johnson is an internationally known theologian and a professor at Fordham University. She has done a great deal of work in the area of feminst theology. Recently, her 2007 book Quest for the Living God came under fire by the Doctrine Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

The nine-member group of bishops said, among other things, that the book failed to reflect the teaching of the magisterium. Johnson responded, saying in part that the bishops had seriously misinterpreted the book. Maybe that could have been avoided had the committee initially contacted Johnson to talk things over, a measure that’s included in committee’s own guidelines.

When the 900-member U.S. federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph gathered last week, it issued a corporate statement of support for Johnson. Around the same time, the Catholic Theological Society of America also publicly supported Johnson!

There are lots of issues involved in this matter – too many to address in detail here. And the situation continues to unfold.

To the Sisters of St. Joseph – way to go!! Standing together in regard to a justice issue is an important part of what it means to be sisters and what it means to be the church. For now, I’m going to re-read my copy of Quest for the Living God and savor it once more.

September 8th is the feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus. It caught me off guard a bit today because I’m used to seeing the feast listed as “the birth of the BVM” not “the birthday of the BVM”. A minor change of words, but enough to throw me. When I saw “birthday” I immediately had images of a young child celebrating their birthday with cake, balloons, presents, and friends. Juxtaposing that image with the great BVM, the Blessed Virgin Mary, seemed almost sacrilegious.

The Birth of the Virgin, a painting by Francisco de Zurbarán

Yet … it got me thinking. First Mary didn’t (and probably doesn’t even now) spend her days frozen in an untouchable marble pose. She was a person like you and I (albeit without sin) who had a life, daily chores, friends, field trips, and other ordinary “stuff” of life. She also had a childhood, and parents Ann and Joachim. Granted, her life — and any celebration of a birthday she might have had — would have looked very different from ours today, but I can’t help imagining a little Mary running around with her family and friends, enjoying a feast or something to celebrate her life. It gives me pause because I don’t ordinarily see Mary this way, as a child doing normal kid things. I usually only see her as a young woman growing in her relationship with God through her “Yes” to bear the Son of God all the way through the Pentecost event and her encounter with the Holy Spirit. But a child?

Today I think I’m going to spend more time getting to know Mary through this other image, a child full of life and mischief and fun and energy! And I’m going go find my copy of Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints by Sister Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, in which “Johnson offers an interpretation of Mary that is theologically sound, spiritually empowering, ethically challenging, socially liberating, and ecumenically fruitful.” I’ll be interested to see what she says of Mary’s childhood.

How do you think of Mary? Is there a particular image or title of Mary that speaks to you the most? How do you relate to Mary in day to day life?

Join Sister Maxine for prayer on this feast day today at 12 noon (Central Time/UTC-5) at http://anunslife.org/live.