The Feast of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Mary said; ‘From this day all generations shall call me blessed.’

Why do we call Mary blessed? Why is she the Blessed Virgin Mary? As we in this church of St. Mary honour Mary as our patron maybe we should ask ourselves again that question. Why is Mary blessed?

As you know in the history of Christianity Mary has often been seen as a controversial figure even as a divisive figure amongst Christians. And that has been especially the case here in England where since the reformation and its controversies and its bloodshed there has been an almost inbuilt suspicion of anything that smacks of Romanism and Mariolatry. And so many Protestants would accuse Roman Catholics of putting Mary too high in the scheme of things and too far on God’s side of the picture. Whereas Roman Catholics might accuse Protestants of ignoring the special place that God himself has given to Mary in choosing her to be the mother of his Son our saviour.

There is an apocryphal story about a leading protestant who was always preaching about the evils of Romanism and the cult of Mary – anyway this man died and went to heaven. Jesus met him at the gates of heaven saying I’ll introduce you to everybody here– but first come and meet my mother. Jesus added rather pointedly: ' I’m very fond of her but I don’t think you know her.'

English people haven’t always been opposed to honouring Mary. Prior to the reformation English people were foremost in the catholic world in the honour they showed to Mary indeed England was known throughout the Christian world as Our Lady’s Dowry. And as if to prove the point there are more churches by far in Britain dedicated to Mary like ours is than to any other saint. So if we do why do we honour Mary?

I want to begin to answer that question in a very strange place. The south Devon market town of Totnes two weeks ago yesterday. It was a typical Saturday morning in Totnes everybody quietly going about their business of weekend shopping or like us tourists meandering  up and down the street as tourists do. The quiet of the scene was suddenly and noisily disturbed by the arrival of a very ancient Morris Minor being driven by an equally ancient looking man who resembled Methuselah with long hair and beard to match. All the windows of the car were open and on some device within he was playing as loudly as it would go a recording of the first movement of Beethoven’s fifth symphony. Everybody stopped and looked at him with a mixture of amusement and amazement. He knew how to stand out from the crowd and he certainly did - I can’t help but think he got the attention what he wanted.

Mary is just the opposite. She doesn’t seek attention. There was nobody more surprised or indeed disturbed than her at being called blessed amongst all people. All Christians are indebted to St Luke for his Gospel portrait of Mary. It is an unfinished portrait. But the simplicity of its lines the humility of Mary that Luke portrays living in a tiny village that no-one has heard of is a picture that all Christians can warm to. Meek and lowly, full of fear and reverence for God and but bewildered by what God is asking of her - and yet obedient to God's will. That is a portrait of Mary that all Christians have recognised and valued. But Luke’s portrait of Mary takes us a little further. He leads us to honour Mary as the woman who puts her whole self at the disposal of God and the service of God’s plan. Mary consented to let God’s spirit take hold of her so that the Son of God could take flesh in our midst. Luke's portrait of Mary is of a young Jewish woman who is both surprised and afraid of what God is asking of her and the notoriety that it is likely to bring to her. Not just notoriety but also potentially shame – don’t forget she was only betrothed to Joseph not yet married to him – no wonder she was perplexed. How could the God of the Law of Moses be asking her to give birth outside of marriage? It’s a very human picture of Mary that Luke paints for us. Mary is perplexed and fearful at God’s choice of her and of what he is asking of her. But she does not allow her fear to form her response to God. Rather she allows God's proposal to form her into the mother of his Son. God announces his choice of Mary. She in her turn signifies her choice of God. Two choices meet. God has chosen Mary. Mary has chosen obedience to God. Both choices are necessary for Gods plan for the salvation of the world to unfold.

In this meeting of those two choices Luke presents Mary as the first Christian disciple. By that I mean that Mary is the first to hear the gospel and to be faithful to it. She hears the word of God and she is obedient to it. Thirty years later in the ministry of Jesus St Luke will tell us that Mary’s son gives an exact description of the true and ideal disciple as one who hears the word of God and does it. Long before the adult Son of Mary appears on the scene Mary show that she fulfils that requirement of the ideal disciple. She hears the word of God and responds by letting that word happen in her life. Mary is the first Christian disciple. The first from amongst all of us to hear the Gospel and to respond to it. In that hearing and responding Mary is blessed and we may therefore call her blessed. And in that she shows us the way to true Christian discipleship. A true Christian disciple is one who hears the word of God and does it. Or, we may say one who hears God’s word and obeys Gods word.

Twice in his Gospel portrait of Mary St Luke says that Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Once after the shepherds had been to worship her son at his birth, and once again after the visit of the twelve year old Jesus to Jerusalem. But I am sure that Mary’s pondering began long before that. You see Mary was obedient to God because she knew him and she trusted him. She pondered upon the word of God and so she knew God to be loving and faithful. She knew God’s love for her his care for her and his plan for her life. Her willing obedience to God was based upon her knowledge of God and her trust in him. She could obey God because she trusted him and she trusted him because she knew him. And so Mary leads us into greater knowledge of God and his great love for us. She leads us to ponder upon God’s word – however that word comes to us.

For God speaks to us in the scriptures, but he also speaks to us in the silence of our hearts, he speaks to us in the voice of conscience he speaks to us in worship. He speaks his word to us in the wise counsel and of the Church; he speaks to us in those good people whom he gives to us to share our lives. However God speaks to you ponder that word of his that you may know his love and learn to trust him more as Mary did. Mary was the first true disciple because she heard the word of God and did it. She was obedient.

Obedience is difficult for us – especially today. We think that somehow being obedient to anyone including Go is somehow a denial of our status or a loss of our freedom. ‘I want to be who I am and do what I want to do’. But obedience to God and to his will is necessary in our Christian discipleship. We cannot be true followers of the Lord without some measure of obedience. Of course we shall want to do our own thing. Sometimes obedience to God’s will be against our own wishes and wants. Sometimes it will be difficult often inconvenient occasionally misunderstood. But obedience to God will never result in anything other than for our good and the good of the church and the world. Indeed Mary's act of obedience brought forth the salvation of the world in the birth of her son. And for her obedience and therefore her part in that act of God towards us all generations will call her blessed. As we do today on this her day and ours.

Perhaps the most authentic way in which we could honour Mary is to do what she did. That is: hear the word of God.  Ponder  on it and obey it.