"And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." - Luke 2:16-21
Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. When Jesus was born into the world, He came just like anybody else - through a woman; but unlike anybody else, He was conceived supernaturally -- through the Holy Spirit.
When God called Mary to the role of motherhood for His divine Son, He recognized the importance of mothers in rearing children. To be given the responsibility to rear the Son of God was no small thing for Mary. She did not know the whole plan. Revelations came to her in small pieces. She had to keep a lot of things in her heart, had to wait for God's wisdom to unveil the mystery of Jesus, her Son, the Son of God. It required a very humble heart. It required a contemplative and quiet spirit to understand everything that was happening to her. She had many questions, yet she never doubted. "How can this be, when I have not known any man?" (Luke 1:34) or "Son, why have you done this to us?" (Luke 2:48a)
It entailed great faith and obedience to put her reputation and life at stake when she agreed to conceive in such a mysterious fashion; even greater faith to embrace such a huge responsibility to bring up the Son of God, of knowing when to hold on and when to let go, of discerning her boundaries as a mother and as a true disciple of God, of staying beside her Son amidst the grief and horror of His execution, and of being a true and faithful witness to the early Church as it expanded and grew. To this day, she remains a mother to many Christians, embracing the whole body of Christ as she had embraced Christ, the baby in her womb. She continues to reveal the mystery of her Son and urges everyone to "do as He says" so Jesus can perform the miracles in our lives as He performed His first miracle in the wedding at Cana.
Mary serves as a big testimony to the serious calling of motherhood. There is no role so simple or mundane, no task so routine and meaningless that cannot be sanctified by faith. If we believe that our role contributes to the bigger whole, that we are indeed part of the body of Christ then we will find great value in all our domestic works.
It is not our task to do grand works. It is His. The only thing He requires of us is obedience to the task at hand -- to find love in everything that we do, to love those He sends our way, to be motivated by the desire to please Him and love Him. Only then will we witness how He can transform our small deeds to grand works. As He has elevated Mary's stature as the most blessed of all women, so can He elevate and sanctify us.
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