No limits on the significance of Mary
In the gospel, it seems that Mary is deliberately not identified by name
January 14, 2007 -- Second Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Michael Stubbs
The first word that any human being ordinarily speaks is "mama." It is the easiest combination of sounds for an infant to make. That is why in all languages, the letter "m" figures prominently in the infantile word for "mother." In Hebrew, it is "em," in Chinese, "ma," in French, "mamman." There are slight variations in the words for "mother," but they all resemble one another. It is the closest we have to a universal language.
The theme of motherhood unites us all. We all have a mother. We even address her in a similar way, no matter our nationality or ethnicity. I would never dream of calling my mother by her name, "Margaret." It just doesn't sound natural.
In Sunday's gospel reading, John 2:1-11, Jesus addresses, his mother by the word "woman," in verse 4. That may strike us as strange, perhaps even disrespectful. However, that appears to have been the custom at the time. It was a sign of affection, not disrespect. We might compare it to the British upper-class use of the term "old man." It can indicate familiarity and affection. It is not necessarily an insult.
Perhaps more strange is the fact that the evangelist never identifies Mary by name. In Sunday's reading he calls her "the mother of Jesus" twice and "his mother" once. Similarly, in John 19:25-27, the evangelist identifies Mary by the term, "his mother," when she is
standing at the foot of the cross. The dying Jesus once again addresses her by the word, "woman," as he entrusts her to the beloved disciple. But the evangelist never once identifies her by the name, "Mary." Why is that?
It does not appear likely that the evangelist would not know Mary's name, since he does know the name of other close associates of Jesus. Neither does it appear likely that the evangelist has omitted Mary's name through an oversight. He seems to have done so deliberately.
The best explanation suggests that the evangelist refers to Mary only as the mother of Jesus in order to emphasize the symbolic role she plays in the plan of salvation. While she is an actual woman who lives in a certain time and place in history, her significance goes far beyond that:
She is also the new Eve, the mother of all the living, in the new creation God has brought about through Jesus Christ.
She is also Daughter Zion, the people of Israel personified as a woman, faithful to God throughout the centuries.
She is also the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, united to God in a close and intimate way.
She is also the mother of the Church, who nourishes and guides us.
The evangelist wishes to open up the possibilities of looking upon Mary in all those ways. He does not wish to limit her to a particular time and place in history. Consequently, he does not call her by her personal name. Instead, he refers to her by a generic term. He is claiming that she is for all time and eternity. She is our mother.
(Fr. Stubbs, a priest of the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas, has a master's degree in theology from Harvard.)
|
