Theme: Mary, Exemplar of Community Living
The Wedding at Cana
Let me refresh to you an incident in the life of Mary when she was at Cana. There was a wedding. During that celebration, they ran out of wine. And Mary went to Jesus and told him that they ran out of wine. Jesus hesitated because his time has not yet come. She did not mind it, she believed in his Son, and she told the servants to follow whatever Jesus will tell them to do.
At that moment Jesus did his first miracle. He turned the water into wine.
There are two aspects here that exemplified how it is to live in community. One is real concern for the well being of others and the other is total trust in God. If these two go together, miracles can happen.
They said that miracles do happen to people who will make it happen. Think of an incident in community life; a moment when you were really concern of the well being of others and you were helpless to do anything about it and entrusted everything to God. Did a miracle happen? If not, les us ask ourselves, is my concern genuine and selfless? Is my trust in God strong and unwavering? We needed this in community life.
The Canticle of Mary
In the famous Canticle of Mary, we see the outburst of Mary’s joy. Mary was boasting not about herself but of what God did to her. She was favored by God and she did not hide her feelings. She let it out through a song.
Joy is an important aspect in community life. And joy is multiplied by the number of people you share it with. The treasures that we actually kept in our hearts are the moments of joy we share together. A few days ago we enjoyed so much looking at the talents of the children in all their innocence singing “I love you honey…” What really give us joy are not expensive things or success that tomorrow will not be remembered anymore but what we received from the Lord and are shared with others. We have God given talents to sing, to cook, to recite, to dance, to write, to play the guitar, etc.
The loss and finding of Jesus in the temple
In this event, Jesus decided to stay in Jerusalem without permission when his parents and all the relatives went home to Nazareth. When Mary and of course Joseph, discovered that Jesus was not with the caravan, they were so anxious and went back to look for him. She told Jesus how she felt but gave Jesus time to explain himself and then pondered in the silence of her heart the reason of his son.
This is another aspect that is important in community. There are so many times that we forget to ask permissions of the things we want to do but it should not be a cause of division in the community. Mary teaches us to give each other a chance to explain oneself and we might be surprised of the way God works through the seeming weaknesses of others.
The Visit of Mary to Elizabeth
Elizabeth was six months pregnant and Mary has just conceived. She rushed to the side of Elizabeth. Two women experiencing the same miraculous pregnancy needed each other’s company to confirm each others experience, to strengthen them from the unbelieving community, to keep their faith alive, and to inspire each other in the journey.
We needed this kind of friendship in community. A friendship that enriches ones experience of God, that keep ones faith in Him strong, a friendship that inspires to move on despite the setbacks that come along our way every now and then.
I invite you sisters to reflect on the other events in Mary’s life and discover for yourselves the rich message about community living.
The Announcement of the Angel to Mary about her mission
We also have Mary standing on the cross and Jesus giving her instruction on what to do after his death…
Even the way Mary received the visitors who went to see Jesus when he was newly born, is a great lesson for community living…
Mary is indeed exemplar of how it is to live in community. In this day of our novena we pray that like Mary we too may become source of joy, hope, love, understanding, inspiration, courage, and strength for one another in the community.
Liturgist: Sr. Rebecca Polinar, C.M.
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