In every aspect of her life Mary knows that her role is to subordinate herself to Jesus. Mary, who was so close to the human Jesus as his mother, had devoted her life from the moment she conceived him and never left him, even at the cross. Mary is the first disciple of Christ and a perfect Christian because she remained in full humility under the shadow of her Son. In Luke’s Gospel the first misunderstanding Jesus has with another person is with his mother. After finding the child Jesus who went missing at the temple, she rebukes him saying, “Son why have you done this to us? Don’t you realize that your father and I have been full of sorrow while searching for you? ” Then he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”[1] Mary does not understand, and so she returns to reflection, thought, and prayer, seeking to learn from the Spirit what her growing son is about: who he is and what he is becoming.[2]
Scripture presents Mary like Jesus, who grows in age and wisdom, as she accompanies the growth of her son – she keeps in her heart everything that Jesus says.[3] She treasures words, events and thoughts of her son Jesus. She knows that she is just a handmaid of the Lord who is called to obey what her Lord asks her to do. St. Augustine affirms Mary’s faithful discipleship saying that she first conceived Christ through faith before conceiving him in the flesh.[4] For this, Mary is a perfect model disciple: one who faithfully believes every word of Jesus Christ, and then goes to believe his promises more and more until his death and resurrection. Mary as a servant of the Lord, has no other model other than her son Jesus Christ himself. All of Mary’s titles and attributes point to glorify Jesus, the Servant of God, who in his faithful obedience to the Father has suffered and died on the cross. Mary is the first disciple of the New Testament, who learned from Jesus what it means how to surrender, obey and believe even in times of pain and desperate hope. So, deep in the heart of Mary lies a prayer of humility and faithfulness that we all Christians are ought to say as well in the depths of our being: “Jesus, make me a servant only like you.”
[1] Lk 2:48-52.
[2] Megan McKenna. Mary Shadow of Grace. (New York: Orbis Books, 1996) 95.
[3] “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart.” Lk 2:19.
[4] Bertrand Buby S.M., Mary the Faithful Disciple (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1985) 13.
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