There is no doubt about it; modern Christianity definitely
has a ‘woman problem’. Whether one considers the still unresolved issues in the
Anglican Church around women bishops, or that of the 10,000 and counting Saints in the Roman
Catholic Church the vast majority are male, or the fact that many of the new
wave Pentecostal super-churches have reduced women to the unhelpful binary of
‘surrendered wife’ whose life work is subservience or ‘Jezebel Spirit’ who
needs her own agency policed and judged at all times, it doesn’t really look
particularly attractive being a believer and female. Whilst these contemporary
battles continue to be fought, there is one obvious powerful woman we might be
wise to return centre stage. And her name is Mary.
Today, if you are a practicing Catholic or a super
High-Anglican one, chances are you will be celebrating the Feast of the
Assumption. The orthodoxy goes, that Mary didn’t die and get buried but was assumed
into heaven, where in her unique position as Mother of Jesus, she continues to
intercede on our behalf.
I have been thinking a lot about Mary and feel that it is
time for a new approach to her; whatever your denominational persuasion. After
all it was through her body, that God chose to reveal himself in human form
thus she was clearly remarkable.
“Greetings, you who
are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.” Luke 1:28
This was not just a case of ‘rent-a-womb’ for the Lord, but
rather an extraordinary and unique instance of God inviting a person to
participate in his manifestation. When we consider her proximity to Jesus;
raising him, nursing him, probably seeing his first step, and certainly with
him to the end as he took his last breath on the cross, we see a stellar
example of love, loyalty, constancy and obedience.
Mary’s power as intercessor for us all is buttressed in the
fact that she was entirely human, and yet in her being steadfast and obedient,
received an eternal reward from God. Her veneration in the Catholic tradition
is feminist because it allows for a space where a woman can both occupy her
bodily natural role of mother and carer but also take her place of leadership
as Queen of Heaven. And to think we believe we invented the notion of the woman
who can ‘have it all’!
Furthermore, it is no surprise that the growth of female
religious orders in the mediaeval era and the scholastic tradition that was
their foundation, came at a time when it was standard to curtsey to a statue of
the Madonna and Child, where an Abbess was an authority figure and much
respected and the works of the likes of Hildegard of Bingen and Heloise of
Argenteuil were celebrated across Christendom. As it stood during these times, when
the Church had only endured one schism, Mary was the main attraction after the
Divine Trinity. Her appeal lay in the dualism of her character; meek yet
strong, powerful yet obedient.
The lesson we can all learn from her is that true power comes
not from job-titles, legislation or even equal-pay campaigns but from tapping
into what God has already deposited in us, and thus reflecting his magnificence
the world.
“I am the Lord’s
Servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left
her.” Luke 1:38
As I imagine her in the heavenly realms, her destiny
fulfilled on this earth, I pray for myself and all believers to be just like
Mary, embrace servitude to the Lord fully, that he might manifest fully in us.
A final word to my fellow feminist believers, it doesn’t get more next level
blessed and powerful than the Mother of God herself!
