Mary, prophetic mother

In my years as a conservative evangelical, my engagement with the figure of Mary during Advent was minimal. My community had some anti-Catholic tendencies, so it was a sort of badge of honor to ignore her as much as possible. Plus, sadly, my tradition made a practice of overlooking women.

It was my loss—for as I’ve learned in the years since, Mary is a fascinating and inspiring person at the heart of Advent. (She's still a complicated character, as we saw last week in Rachel Mann’s honest reflection.) This week we have two new very different pieces that relate to the mother of Jesus. Jonathan McGregor examines the role of Mary’s Magnificat in the work of 20th-century radical Vida Dutton Scudder. Melissa Kuipers ponders Mary’s motherhood and what it might teach her about her own parenting.

Plus more great new content. Scroll down for a poem about Advent in life’s final season, an essay about the L’Arche house in Bethlehem, and more!

Email me: How do you relate to or engage with Mary?

Jon Mathieu
[email protected]

“Ancient cries of the dispossessed such as Mary’s prayer—the prayer of a young woman in an occupied country, who believes God takes the part of her people and will set them free from oppression—sound awkward coming from a congregation whose parking lot is filled with BMWs.”

Mary’s special child and mine

“Can I treasure my child’s finding his own way, his asserting his own will, the things I don’t understand about him? Can I treasure all the things, the times when he is adored by others and the times that cause me stress and anxiety?”

Joyful life in Bethlehem

“With gentleness and love the group welcomed me into their lives, into their work, and into their dancing.”

In the Lectionary for December 24 (Advent 4B)

The traditional annunciation story bothers me even more than the word handmaid.

In the Lectionary for December 24/25 (Nativity)

The God of exiles, refugees, and migrants still shines light amid today’s present darkness.

December—the 95th Year

“Last night I lay awake and practiced
getting old. Not difficult,
but I needed to teach myself to love my destination
before I arrive. . . .”

poem by Luci Shaw

No longer Black or White?

“If the incarnation of the Word points to anything, it’s the possibility that God works in and through our cultural and political and social realities, not beyond them. The Word enfleshed did not come as a nonspecific humanoid entity intent on identifying with the biological category of human.”

by Brian Bantum