Mary, the woman of contemplation
Today we celebrate a solemnity that commemorates one of the dogmas around the Blessed Virgin Mary, namely, the Assumption of Mary. Dogmas arise out of the Christian tradition. Even so, I would like to present an image of Mary that emerges from the gospels.
To me, Mary is a woman of contemplation. Particularly, as Luke describes her, Mary keeps the Word of God in her heart, she ponders about the events of her life, she wonders…
When she heard from the angel those powerful words: “The Lord is with you”, she was deeply disturbed by these words and “asked herself what this greeting could mean” (Lk 1:29)? When the shepherds came to see the baby lying in the manger, they reported what they had been told by the angels about the baby. Everyone was astonished. “As for Mary, she treasured all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Lk 2:19). When Joseph and Mary took the baby to be presented in the temple, Simeon and Anna had their own news about the baby, “the child’s father and mother were wondering at the things that were being said about him” (Lk 2:33).
When the 12-year-old boy Jesus was found among the teachers in the temple listening to them and asking them questions, his reaction to his worried parents was very surprising. But “his mother stored up all these things in her heart” (Lk 2:51). The Gospel of Luke invites us to imitate Mary in her attitude of listening to the movement of God by pondering in our hearts the anomalous situations of life.
The oft repeated word in the description of Mary’s wondering and pondering is the heart. Contemplation is different from vocal prayers; it is basically an exercise of the heart. Contemplation is even different from ‘mental prayer’ or meditation, in that contemplation is a prayer of the heart. In contemplation there is a movement from the head – the thinking unit, to the heart – the feeling centre. The knowing that takes place in contemplation is at the affective level, it is intuitive, it is awareness, and it is transformative.
My research among people who practice contemplation suggests that there is a triple movement in their heart and mind. There is an upward journey towards God as He becomes more real to them; there is an inward journey towards the self in terms of awareness and humility; and there is an outward journey towards others often expressed in forgiveness and compassion. What is amazing is that these movements happen spontaneously without any sermon or theologising. And it is transformative.
Threefold movements in contemplation
Let us begin with the first movement – the movement towards God. Mary’s contemplation, we can suppose, is marked by a transition from her own belief and experience of the Lord-God (Yahweh) to the wonder and belief in the God-Man (Jesus). Almost everything about her son invites her to contemplation because he is a man, flesh of her flesh, and yet He is not just a man; “He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High” (Lk 1:32). In our own contemplation we realise how God is real. He is here and now. Yet beyond all rational knowing.
Contemplation is a movement towards the self. Mary asked herself what the greeting of the angel could mean (Lk 1:29). This contemplation leads her to dialogue with the angel, rather than ask for proofs (as Zachariah did in Lk 1:18). And eventually she acknowledges herself as the humble handmaid (Lk 1:38). Contemplation brings forth humility. This humility enables us to open up ourselves to the loving plan of God. In the parable of the Lost Son, Luke describes the point of conversion of the elder son as a moment of contemplation: “But when he came to himself, he said …. I will arise and go to my father” (Lk 15:17-18, RSV).
Contemplation is a movement towards others in compassion. The two classical stories of Mary reaching out to others: to Elizabeth (Lk 1:39-56) and to the wedding party in Cana (Jn 2:1-11), are acts of compassion. Yet there are not mere humanistic acts of kindness. In both the stories she shares the Good News – she introduces Jesus as the Son of God. This is typical when our own reaching out is an overflow of contemplation. We bring God to others in compassion.
Contemplation and keeping the Word
Is this not at the core of our Christian integration: the self, God and others? It seems to me that this integration is best mediated through contemplation. There are two other indirect references to the mother of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. These two passages summarise our reflection on contemplation and compassion very well. There is the story of Jesus being told that his mother and brothers were standing outside wanting to see him, and he replies: “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice” (Lk 8: 20-21). On another occasion, “It happened that as he was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said, ‘Blessed the womb that bore you and the breasts that fed you!’ But Jesus replied, ‘More blessed still are those who hear the word of God and keep it!’” (Lk 11: 27-28).
In both these responses, Jesus seems to acknowledge that Mary is blessed because her own belief in God is not based on rationalising on His word but on contemplating and put it into practice. And by extension, we too could be blessed if we could contemplate His word and put it into practice in compassion. Compassion flows from contemplation.
Contemplation is supported by Spiritual Direction
I also see Mary as a woman of contemplation who seeks the support of another person of faith in her own faith journey. I would like us to recall the scene of her Visitation to Elizabeth. At the Annunciation, Mary has had a particular and powerful encounter with God. She has been called by God to be the Mother of God. As we said earlier, she is perplexed. She wonders. She has her doubts and questions. But she says ‘yes’ to God. This is her experience of God. In a sense, this was a very private experience!
During the visitation to Elizabeth, Mary is helped by Elizabeth to get deeper into that experience and give an expression to it. The company of another human person, in whose life also God has worked powerfully, Mary gets the confirmation for the working of God in her private life. And when happens, Mary breaks into song:
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour; because he has looked upon the humiliation of his servant. Yes, from now onwards all generations will call me blessed, for the Almighty has done great things for me.
In some way, this is what we do in a moment of spiritual direction. We might begin with what is going on in our ordinary lives, or we might begin with what is happening in moments of prayer, but a good spiritual director helps us acknowledge how God is working in our lives. Thus, the experience of God gets deepened. Even in our struggles and doubts (desolations and counter-movements), reframing of our perception of life in the light of faith helps us recognise how God is working in our lives. Spiritual direction helps us reframe our stories in the light of faith.
This celebration of another solemnity of Mary, invites us to imitate her in embracing contemplation in our Christian life, and to access spiritual accompaniment to be assisted to process what happens to us in contemplation.