This is the irrational season
When love blooms bright and wild
Had Mary been filled with reason
There’d have been no room for the child.
--Madeleine L’Engle
We often envision Mary as a model of faith for us, especially within the Marist tradition. At our daily prayer we ask for the blessing of “Mary, Our Good Mother.” At the heart of Mary’s life it is her faith that sets her apart. It is good for us to remember that scripture scholars note that Mary was a young woman when she entered into her “irrational season.” So many of our young men are looking to make sense of the world around them, and see us -- the adult members of the community -- as their models in faith, the intellectual life, and in negotiating the challenges of an unforgiving and value diverse culture.
How do we appropriate this role of being models of faith to the young men around us? Of course we are dubious and wonder about our ability to fulfill this role. What me…a person of faith such that others may gain by my example? Preposterous, silly, not my job, get real…way too much of an expectation. My hunch is that Mary knows exactly what you are experiencing since she must have shared in these very same feelings. As Luke tells us, “Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
So, the Christmas season calls us to ponder and reflect on our faith. A faith that is thrown into discomfort when we read about the tragedies in the world, struggle with the crushing demands of the economy, or bristle as the easy solutions to world problems offered by the many media pundits vying for our attention. Faith in our world is indeed demanding. No less for Mary in her world. Hence, this irrational season is an invitation to renew our commitment to each other, to our students and to the larger community we are a part of in the world.
“Mary does not need to figure it out and plan accordingly;
The plan will be given by God through life’s ordinary
events and encounters. Reality itself is her teacher.
That is why she could hear angels. And that is why
she could hear Elizabeth. As Paula D’Arcy says so well,
‘God comes to us disguised as our life.’” (Richard Rohr)
