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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost

July 26, 2023

Invitatory

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Reading - Luke 1:26-33

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 for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’

Meditation - Winnie Smith

Today is a feast day I didn’t know existed: that of the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Little is known about Mary, herself, and less still about her parents. In the account of Jesus’s birth found in Luke, all we know is that a virgin named Mary was engaged to Joseph of the house of David. In Matthew’s birth story, more attention is paid to Joseph than to Mary. It is remarkable to me that the mother of Jesus, arguably one of the most important figures in all of scripture, is virtually unknown to us.

The following excerpt comes from A Great Cloud of Witnesses, a resource that identifies significant people throughout the Church’s history, from the time of the New Testament to now:

An apocryphal gospel, known as the Protevangelium of James or The Nativity of Mary, appeared. It included legendary stories of Mary’s parents Joachim and Anne. These stories were built out of Old Testament narratives of the births of Isaac and of Samuel (whose mother’s name, Hannah, is the original form of Anne), and from traditions of the birth of John the Baptist. In these stories, Joachim and Anne—the childless, elderly couple who grieved that they would have no posterity—were rewarded with the birth of a girl whom they dedicated in infancy to the service of God under the tutelage of the temple priests.

Imagine that, Mary having been born to an elderly couple who believed they would never have a child. It makes the nativity story that much more interesting that Mary’s relative, Elizabeth, also found herself unexpectedly pregnant in her old age. Their connection is that much stronger if it is, indeed, true, that Mary was born to similarly aging parents who believed their time for children had passed.

Mary is an integral part of the nativity story, and thus the story of Christianity. Without her, we have no Jesus. Without her, no Magnificat, the hymn of praise that she cries out to God just after greeting Elizabeth, and one of the best known hymns in all of scripture. Mary matters! So how wrong is it that we know so little about her? Today’s recognition of her parents is a helpful reminder to us all that more often than not, we know next to nothing about the people we encounter. They could be saints, they are likely sinners (aren’t we all?), but we don’t know much more than surface details at best. Perhaps by recognizing this, we can all show more grace and more care for others, knowing that their lives are far more complicated than we know. We often hear that we should be kind because everyone is fighting battles, but I would add to that to be curious, to be open to the possibility that everyone we meet is capable of something miraculous and wonderful.

Collect for Joachim and Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Almighty God, heavenly Father, we remember in thanksgiving this day the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and we pray that we all may be made one in the heavenly family of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.