December 11: Mother
♫ Music:
Friday, December 11
Scripture: Luke 2:40-52
And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
MOTHER
The story that unfolds in Luke 2 gives a glimpse of micro-moments with macro-impact. Mary reveals in vs. 51 that she stores these captured moments in her heart as treasured memories.
As we reflect on the Sonnet by Malcolm Guite, the music of Cappella Romana, Rejoice, Virgin Theotokos, and the video of Expectant Mums, it is my hope that our reflections incite sacred memories inviting us to delight in God’s love.
Little is recorded of Jesus’ life between his birth and the age of 30, so, it is a treat to get Luke’s account of Jesus’ early life when he misses the traveling caravan for journeying back home because he was lost in deep learning at the Temple.
The storyline in Luke 2 begins with the backdrop of the census (socio-political backdrop) and continues with foreshadowing of the Angels, humble Shepherds as first visitors of Jesus, sacred obligations fulfilled (circumcision), the Holy Spirit revealing to Simeon & Anna shares hope with many, a return trip to Nazareth, and an annual trip to Jerusalem. Within this storyline is a hidden gem: Luke tells aptly from Mary’s point of view, and we get to speculate as Malcolm Guite does in his sonnet and as the video storytellers do in Expectant Mums what it must be like to be expectant of the blessings and healing of the best gift-giver through the birth of His son, Jesus Christ. After emotions of worry and anger were quieted, Mary must have felt proud to learn of her son’s laser focus and determination to follow a life path of working and living for God.
As Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and in favor of God and men, Mary continued to store memories as treasures in her heart. She later learned what some of those captured micro-moments meant in macro impact as she curated her treasured memories of motherhood.
PRAYER
Call us unto You, God.
Let us answer, “let it be unto me” as Mary did.
And if we miss Your voice
Call us again
We want to hear Your call.
We want to respond with trust and expectation that Your came to make the broken whole.
As darkness was replaced by a glorious light (Luke 2:9),
Hold us, open doors, and speak to us that we may confidently walk even through darkness and say yes to Your call.
Our confidence is based on Luke 2:10, “Don’t be afraid! Listen! I bring good News of great joy, news that will affect all people everywhere.”
And we pray, “To the highest heights of the universe, glory to God! And on earth peace among all people who bring pleasure to God!” (Luke 2:14)
Amen.
Mary Kay Park, Cook School of Intercultural Studies Adjunct Faculty
About the Artists and Art
Video #1
Expectant Mums
ECF Paisley Video
Video #2
Mary
Malcolm Guite Video
ECF is part of the Elim movement of more than 550 Christian congregations in the UK and Ireland. Elim was founded in 1915 by George Jeffreys, a young Christian from South Wales. Jeffreys and a group of friends, known as the Elim Evangelistic Band, started churches and witnessed a move of God that was characterized by miraculous healings and an explosion of people coming to Christ. The founders wanted the name of their new movement to express their vision and values, and so they chose ‘Elim’, the name of an oasis in the Bible that the people of Israel discovered as they wandered through the desert. It provided shade and refreshment to all who encountered it. This touching ECF video, Expectant Mums, imagines what Mary must have been thinking as a new mother.
Website: www.ecfpaisley.org
About the Poet
Malcolm Guite (b. 1957) is a poet, author, Anglican priest, teacher and singer/songwriter based in Cambridge, England. He has published four collections of poetry: Saying the Names, The Magic Apple Tree, Sounding the Seasons: Poetry for the Christian Year, and The Singing Bowl. His writing has been acclaimed by Rowan Williams and Luci Shaw, and his Antiphons appeared in Penguin’s Best Spiritual Writing 2013, edited by Philip Zaleski. Guite’s theological works include What Do Christians Believe? and Faith, Hope, and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination. He is a scholar of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and the British poets and serves as Bye-Fellow and chaplain at Girton College at the University Cambridge, supervising students in English and theology and lecturing widely in England and America. Guite plays in the Cambridge rock band Mystery Train, whose albums include The Green Man and Dancing through the Fire.
Website: www.malcolmguite.wordpress.com
About the Music
Rejoice, Virgin Theotokos
Lyrics
Rejoice, Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb,
For you have borne the Savior of our souls.
Rejoice, Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb,
For you have borne the Savior of our souls.
Rejoice, Virgin Theotokos, Mary full of grace, the Lord is with you.
Blessed, blessed are you among women, and blessed is the Fruit of your womb,
For you have borne the Savior of our souls.
About the Performers
Cappella Romana (founded in 1991) is a vocal chamber ensemble in Portland, Oregon dedicated to combining passion with scholarship in its continuing exploration of the musical traditions of the Christian East and West, with emphasis on early and contemporary music. It is conducted by its founder and artistic director, Alexander Lingas. The name is derived from the medieval concept of the Roman oikoumene (inhabited world), which included not only “Old Rome” and Western Europe, but also “New Rome” (Constantinople), “Third Rome” (Moscow), and the commonwealth of Slavic and Syriac countries. Flexible in size—according to the demands of the repertory—Cappella Romana is one of the Pacific Northwest’s few professional chamber vocal ensembles. It has a special commitment to mastering the Slavic and Byzantine repertories in their original languages, thereby making accessible to the general public two great musical traditions that are little known in the West. Leading scholars have supplied the group with their latest discoveries, while its music director has prepared a number of the ensemble’s performing editions from original sources. In the field of contemporary music, Cappella Romana has taken a leading role in bringing to West Coast audiences the works of such European composers as Michael Adamis, Ivan Moody, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener, as well as promoting the sacred work of North Americans.
Website: www.cappellaromana.org