Heart Reflections Live

On this day, Mothers Day, a day on which we honour our Mothers who raised us, or who are raising us, I would like to present Holy Communion to you, through the eyes of a woman, perhaps the most reknowned Mother of all time, Mary the Mother of Jesus...

Mary was the chosen vessell of God to carry the Christ Child into this wicked world, but this doesn't mean she was perfect or sinless, or anything like that- she confessed her own sin-nature in her joyous outburst in Luke 1:47, when she said, "And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour" - if she was indeed sinless she wouldn't have declared her need for a saviour. She was like any one of us can be, when our hearts are totally submitted unto the Lord. How many of us could say, "Behold the Handmaid( or servant) of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy Word." How much joy and pain she was committing herself to in that one simple statement of faith and submission!

I remember when I saw "The Passion of the Christ"- I thought it one of the most beautiful films I ever saw. Yes it was very raw, real and gorey in parts, but I was totally mesmerized by the way they portrayed the relationship between Jesus and Mary, his mother.

My favourite scene in whole movie, was when Mary saw Jesus stumble under the weight of the cross. She immediately flashed back in her mind to him stumbling and falling as a boy at play, her Mother's heart longing to help him, ran to the cross,where Jesus smiled at her through the pain and said words to the effect of, "Do not fear, woman, I am fullfilling my destiny!" and suddenly it all seemed to make sense!-all the things she had stored up in her heart over the years,- the angels, the boy in the temple, A sword was indeed piercing her own heart as she not only faced the unfathomable pain of seeing her first-born suffer and die, but the realization, that He, the Lamb of God, was bearing her sins too.

Mary's story doesn't finish there. Jesus in his compassion and love passed her into the care of John, during some of his final moments on the cross, then there was the resurrection and joy again!, and then of course she was tarrying in the upper room when the Holy Spirit came. Mary the Mother of Jesus, became part of the first church!

I can't imagine the pain Mary went through in losing her first-born son- yet grief is the price we all pay for love, and in Jesus, and the hope of the resurrection, it can, like as it did for Mary, turn pain into unspeakable joy.

Labels: Christ Crucified, church