In our last post, we began reflecting on the Blessed Mother as the New Eve. The first part set the stage for the circumstances requiring the Blessed Mother to be given the gift of being born without the stain of original sin. For the Word to be Incarnate, the holy vessel of Mary’s womb was the only way divinity could take on human flesh without diminishing either the divine or human nature.
As we alluded to in the previous post, Mary’s gift back to God was giving birth to Jesus while being open to God’s ultimate plan for her throughout her life. The Incarnation of Jesus began her journey with the ever-growing intimacy between God and herself as her life unfolded.
When the angel visited Mary and told her she was to be the Mother of God, her selfless response was, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Those words mark the beginning of our redemption, the fulfillment of promise and prophecy, and the beginning of Mary’s role as mother of Christ, the Son of God.
The lofty vocation offered by the angel to be the Mother of God did nothing to alleviate the stress, worry, and suffering any woman who gives birth experiences. Yet, still unsure of God’s plan, Mary, with the most profound trust in God, found time to be with her cousin in her time of need.
The birth of Jesus must have been challenging and disturbing: the birth of her firstborn Son in a stable fit for animals, a fearful escape by night to Egypt to escape the murderous desires of Herod. Those who could not leave became the Holy Innocents taken up to heaven to sing the glory of God forever.
When the time had come to present Jesus in the Temple as the law prescribed, Simeon said to Mary, his mother, “Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be contradicted and you yourself a sword will pierce so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.” Simeon’s words prophesized that Mary, the Mother of God, would herself suffer for the redemption of mankind.
Only a few years later, Mary and Joseph experienced the greatest worry while desperately searching for Jesus until he was found in His Father’s house. Even though Jesus was only twelve, Mary first experienced that her role as just Mother would be expanded to a greater vocation by Jesus’ answer of having to be in his Father’s house. As Jesus’ identity developed from the newborn king to the Son of the Father, Mary’s identity expanded from being the Mother of Jesus to something beyond that.
The next glimpse of Mary as something more than herself came at the wedding at Cana. While Jesus and Mary attended the wedding, the wine was running short. The empathy of a good Mother wanting to spare the embarrassment of her hosts asks her Son for help. Jesus responded, “Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come.” Not many sons would reprimand their mother or use the term “woman” in addressing her.
The term ‘woman’ that Jesus used is a turning point in their relationship. Their biological bond, while diminished, is met with an ever-increasing spiritual bond. Mary, now called a woman in certain situations, adds to her identity as the Mother of Jesus and the obedient representative of humanity pleading for the help all of us need from the Son of God.
In Jesus’ last day on earth, as he hung on the cross before her eyes, she was given to the care of another. She could not reach him to ease his pain. She could not hold him as his breathing stopped. As he cried out in agony, she could not comfort him. In his last moments, Jesus commended his mother for being the Mother of all by telling her in front of St. John, “Behold your son.” And to John, “Behold your mother.”
Mary’s motherhood would no longer be known as giving birth to Jesus in the flesh but also becoming the source by which she leads souls away from death to the life Jesus can provide. Contrary to the first Eve, who, through disobedience to the will of God, led her children to destruction, the new Mother, the New Eve, would enable her children to be saved and to live.
In the fifth century, the Christian poet Caelius Sedulius most succinctly describes the role of Jesus and his mother in salvation:
Because of one man, all his descendants perished;
And all are saved because of one man.
Because of one woman, the deadly door opened;
And life returned, because of one woman.
Mary, Mother of all the living. Mary, the New Eve. Mary Queen of the Universe. Pray for us as the new year begins.
One thought on “Mary the New Eve-Part Two”