We all know the story of Mary and how she was chosen out of the girls and women of the world to bear the child of God. Can you imagine the burden of that? First Mary was very young, although the bible does not actually tell her age in that time girls as young as 12 were married and having children.
She is married only to discover she is pregnant. Her religion says that she has to live with her parents for one year after her marriage and she cannot be with Joseph at all. So how does she explain this? She goes to her cousin Elizabeth who is much older and pregnant herself with John the Baptist. Elizabeth knows that Mary is pregnant the moment she sees her.
Mary eventually goes home knowing that she may be stoned to death. Joseph doesn’t want her but then eventually comes around. Because of a census they must go from Nazareth to Bethlehem. This trip is would have been about 80 miles. For a normal person walking it would take about 4 days. However Mary was close to the end of her pregnancy and riding a donkey so that trip could have easily taken them a week. They would have gone slowly for fear of a miscarriage.
They arrive only to discover there is not a room for her. She ends up delivering in a manger with the help of a woman. All these people show up to see the baby that first week. People that Mary and Joseph do not know. They then have to leave because Herod has ordered all under 2 and under to be murdered.
Mary had a faith that I honestly don’t know anyone who has the same. She believed and trusted that God would take care of things. On top of that she had a child who was anything but a normal child. I can’t imagine looking at my child everyday knowing that he is more than a normal human child. Knowing that he would one day do things that only he could do.
We all want so much for our children but how do you want all of those things for a child destined for more? Mary never once questioned God or his plan. At least not that we know. We know that she was as human as us so there may have been times when she wondered if she could do it. Times when she must have been terrified. I want that same faith that Mary had, to trust without any sort of doubt. TO just know.
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The hardest part would have been seeing your child hanging on a cross. I don’t know how she got through that. God does tell us in the Bible that he won’t give us more than we can handle. Mary had to handle so much to see her son treated the way he was how horrible that would have been.
I know I can’t imagine how that would have been.It would have crushed me.
There are so many people in the Bible that are so totally amazing to me. Do I think that I could do what she did? I don’t know, of course I would like to think that I could, but my faith has been tested so much that it’s not as strong as it should be.
I am always guilty of comparing my faith to Mary’s but that sort of faith is something that not many people have. I know I could not have endured what she did.
To be honest I don’t know if anyone in this day and age can just trust in God and not question our paths. I think that is what also makes a human, we don’t just follow without some questions along the way. There are some horrific things that happen in the world and to not question the plan would be almost amazing. I also think when we ask the question it is our way of showing compassion to others. I personally think it’s okay to question certain followings of the church. I truly believe that is one of the reasons our new Pope is so wonderful. You can see him making positive changes and moving the Catholic church forward.