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Reflection - Motherhood of Mary

There’s a famous Icon of Mary called “The Tenderness of Mary.” It’s also called “The Virgin of Vladimir.”

The spiritual writer Henri Nouwen wrote that that Icon, like this Feast of The Motherhood of Mary, reminds us who we belong to. Nouwen says who we belong to is a spiritual question.

Yes, we belong to our families and our friends and even this parish.

When we look over this past year, our commitments, our appointment books, emails, day planners, we discover just how many other people we belonged to this past year.

Due to social distancing and empty calendars some may feel like they haven’t belonged to anyone this past year.

The beginning of a new year is a time to pause think about the people who have a claim on our time and our hearts.

Nouwen says that the eyes of Mary in the Icon help us to see who we belong to. Mary’s eyes seem to be looking both inwardly and outward at the same time. Her eyes are looking inward to the Heart of God and outward to the heart of the world.

That’s who we belong to. We belong to both God and the world.

Mary eyes remind us that our eyes are meant for gazing at God in prayer and for looking with compassion on all those who are suffering and in need. For we belong both to God and to the world.

When we realize who we belong to then this coming New Year becomes a gift of time that God gives us for serving Him and those in our families and the world.

Nouwen also points to the hands of Mary in the Icon. One of Mary’s hands is supporting the child. The other hand appears to be pointing, but he says the hand is also inviting.

Mary is inviting us with her hand to come close. She is inviting us into a relationship with her, with her Son and with all her children. Her hand is reminding us that we belong to her as our Mother and to all God’s children that she is mother to.

Mary’s hand in the icon is an open hand. It’s not like so many hands in the world grasping out of greed or raised in anger or like the hands that seek to control us and others.

Mary is inviting us to take her hand, trusting her that she will lead us to the One we all belong to---Her Son.

But remember, that in taking the hand of Mary, she is also the Mother of Sorrows.

Mary knew many sorrows in her life, but she also knew the joy of giving birth to her Son.

Like Mary we will live both the sorrowful and the joyful mysteries of life as we reach out our hands in service to others. But thru it all, we will discover who we belong to.

The hope of Mary, on this her Feast Day, is that we discover we belong to Her Son, just as the shepherds discovered on Christmas morning.