Happy Mary Mag Day - Again

Happy Mary Mag Day again!  Thank you to everyone who is writing to wish us well.  

This has been a big year for us.  Last year Elizabeth and I made our life vows, so this is our first year as vowed Companions.  The first Covenant Companion Candidates began this leg of their journey last year, so today is an anniversary for them too.  Their beginning was also the start of a new chapter for Elizabeth and me, as we became “formation directors” for others and devoted significant time and thought to how these others were growing.  It’s been a joy to watch them develop, and painful to let someone go.  Now, as another person steps forward into that circle, we continue to learn together.

This past year has given me more insight into Mary’s story, and mine.  I’m seeing more and more that healing is not a one-time event.  Like the blind man who needs another application of mud, i need continual encounters with Jesus to heal old wounds and grow new parts of me.  I imagine she followed so closely partly because she knew she needed daily doses of God’s love.    

Any illusions I might have had that healing means erasing the past have shriveled this year.  I’ve had many chances to encounter my continuing limitations and fears.  They call me to encounter the past again, not to be captured by it, but to be equipped to move on.  I regret many things in my past, but I also cherish my unique history as the vehicle of God’s grace.  

In this light, Luke’s designation of Mary as one from whom seven demons had gone out shows up for me in a new way.  I’ve loved this at times, as I identified with her; at other times I’ve resented what could have been intended to delegitimate her status among the disciples.  But today I’m mindful of Paul’’s response to the Corinthians when they want to know his credentials: he tells them just how broken he has been, just how much he has lost, just how foolish he has let himself look for the sake of Christ.  He reminds them that our faith is not about how wise or strong we are, about how deserving of God’s praise or people’s admiration: God came for the messed-up, broken, sinful, lost ones.  Mary is exhibit A.  Her history shames those who still think in terms of “purity,” but it shines like a lamp for those who know they need help.  I’m one of those.

I’m not alone in this.  Mary is our matron because we relate to the brokenness and foolishness that needs, and receives, the healing touch of Christ.  Today, I invite you to look into your broken places and give thanks for the space that God might fill.  And pray with us the Companions’ Prayer:

Pour into our hearts, O God, the Holy Spirit’s gift of love; that we, clasping each the other’s hand, may share the joy of companionship, human and divine, and draw many to your community of transforming love; through Jesus Christ our Savior.  Amen.