Reflections on Virgin Mary

The Mona Lisa artwork by Leonardo da Vinci, holds the Guinness World Record for the highest-known painting insurance valuation in history at $ 670 million in 2020. It bears a strong resemblance to many Renaissance depictions of the Virgin Mary, who was at that time seen as an ideal for womanhood.

Mona Lisa came to my mind while meditating on the solemnity of the Immaculate Mary, Mother of Jesus, the Saviour, observed on December 8. Had God given us the liberty to choose our mothers, we would, perhaps, have chosen the likes of Mona Lisa. But, when God chose to become a human being, for our salvation, He used His power to choose a mother for His Son, in the person of Mary of Nazareth.

When the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, he addressed her as “full of grace” (Luke 1:28). The Church interprets this greeting in terms of God having created Mary in her mother’s womb, without Original Sin; hence, the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. “What God prepares is referred to, not as a female of the human species, but as a Mother in whom the Son of God would become incarnate … ever absolutely free of all stain of sin’, said Pope Pius IX, while defining the dogma in 1854.

Since Adam was created the original human being, all humans are tainted by sin inherited from him; known as Original Sin (Genesis 3:2-6). It is in our DNA. Original Sin may better be understood as an absence, a lack, a deprivation of original holiness, grace and unity with the Creator. It falls within St. Paul’s lamentation of our inclination to do evil than to do good (Romans 7:19).

The dogmatic definition of the Immaculate Conception explains that the saving action of God, in the Virgin Mary, took place “in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race. That means a future event and its merits were applied beforehand (for God exists in an eternal present), making the future Mother of the Redeemer an suitable dwelling for Him.”

But, as Philip Enden SJ (Tutor in theology), declares, “Original Sin makes no sense unless there is a yet more original grace.” So, “full of grace’ signifies that Mary received original grace in some complete way and remains completed in that grace. The war between the woman and the Serpent, could only be possible if she was sinless. Mary was that sinless woman who brought to life mankind’s 4,000-year-long dream for a Christmas Day (Galatians 4:4).

The Council of Ephesus (431), declared Mary the theotokos—‘god-bearer’ or Mother of God. This gives the hope that God can deal with the predicament of Original Sin, through the birth of the Savior by the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Just as a woman made possible the first sin, so too a woman would make possible the work of our salvation. Mary was God’s answer to Eve (Romans 5:12). It foreshadowed the Savior’s miraculous dwelling among us.

Mary is described as the only near earthly relative of the Son of God. In her God is really partaker of our nature, except sin (Hebrews 4:15). Mary is the only one whom He was bound by nature to revere and look up to; the one appointed to train and educate Him, to instruct Him, as He grew in wisdom and stature (Luke 2:40).

Christians love Mary because she embodies, literally, all that we hope to be. By her faith and willingness to cooperate with God, Mary demonstrated that genuine liberation consists not in doing one’s own will, but in doing God’s will. As Jesus said to Nicodemus, Baptism is necessary as it returns us to that state of original holiness, justice and grace (John 3:5).

Luke 1:29 says Mary was “troubled” by the words of the angel.

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception can indeed be “troubling.” Our best response is to follow the example of Mary and accept God’s Word in faith.

John Wynand Katende, [email protected]