Mary,
the mother of Jesus
Our
Church's patron saint, Mary, provides a good pattern for
our own calling as Christians, not only at Christmas-tide.
Mary was a young Galilean woman, who lived and worked in
Nazareth. We read in the Gospel of Saint Matthew that she
was engaged to a local carpenter, Joseph. On separate occasions,
both Joseph and Mary were told that she would be the mother
of Jesus, the Son of God (Gospel according to Saint Matthew,
1.18-25 and Gospel according to Saint Luke, 1.26-38).
In
the Gospel of Saint Luke we read how Mary was astounded at
this message, but that she responded to God's call, consented
to His will and so made herself ready for God's service when
she said: 'Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be
with me according to your word.' (Gospel according to
Saint Luke, 1.38). We believe that, like Mary, it is
in being open to the will of God that we can serve Him and
the people who surround us.
The
story of Mary is not only known to Christians. The events
surrounding the birth of Jesus are also recorded in the Noble
Qur'an, in sura 19, Maryam - 'Mary'. There, the
story of Mary's obedience to God's call, her pregnancy and
her journey to Bethlehem is retold. According to the Noble
Qur'an, Mary gives birth to Jesus in the isolation of
the wilderness near Bethlehem, underneath a date palm. She
is sustained by the fruit of the tree and the water of a
near-by stream. At Christmas in present-day Bethlehem, both
Muslims and Christians give thanks for the birth of Jesus.
GOD
OUR REDEEMER,
who prepared the Blessed Virgin Mary
to be the mother of your Son:
grant that, as she looked for His coming as our Saviour,
so we may be ready to greet Him
when He comes again as our judge;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
Collect
for the Fourth Sunday in Advent
© Common
Worship, 2000-2002
Mary,
the mother of Jesus, in the Words of the Gospels
The
Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, 1.26-38:
In
the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town
in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man
whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's
name was Mary. And he came to her and said, 'Greetings, favoured
one! The Lord is with you.' But she was much perplexed by
his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, 'Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have
found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your
womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will
be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and
the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor
David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and
of his kingdom there will be no end.' Mary said to the angel,
'How can this be, since I am a virgin?' The angel said to
her, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of
the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to
be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now,
your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived
a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to
be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.' Then
Mary said, 'Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be
with me according to your word.' Then the angel departed
from her.
The
Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, 1.18-25:
Now
the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When
his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they
lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy
Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling
to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her
quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel
of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph,
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife,
for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She
will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will
save his people from their sins.' All this took place to
fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
'Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they
shall name him Emmanuel,' which means, 'God is with us.'
When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital
relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named
him Jesus.
Scripture
quotations from the New
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, © 1989
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