Mary Is Standing At The Foot Of The Cross
The role of Miriam spirituality in the world’s struggle for human fraternity
My professor tasked me to read the learning materials about Miriam spirituality. Miriam is the Aramaic name of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
So, I pondered on all the things that I remembered, but this phrase is so remarkable, so appealing to me in the materials. It says: “Making God’s love visible.”
What is the image of God’s love? How does it look? I think a disciple of Miriam should have a vivid portrait of it. This is essentially Miriam. Keeping in heart this image of God’s love. Because this image of God’s love will move a person to have a “missionary disposition, a trailblazing spirit, and a commitment to love.”
This phrase makes me recall what Br. John Mary of Jesus Crucified OCD wrote in one of his reflection weblogs about Mary’s silence while standing by the cross of Jesus. Br. John Mary said,
“One message that Mary teaches us through her silent presence in the Gospel passage can be found in the very first word: standing. ‘Standing by the cross of Jesus.’ Mary watched her son betrayed, arrested, scourged, and humiliated. She’s seen the blows tear his flesh, the thorns, pierce his scalp, and the nails (were) driven through his hands and feet. He is bleeding, weak, gasping for air, and crying out in pain. Yet Mary is there at the foot of the cross, and not only is she there — she is standing. At the moment when you expect a mother to be collapsed on the ground, wailing uncontrollably, unable to watch her son’s excruciating pain, Mary’s standing at the foot of the cross.” (emphasis mine)
This image of faith is the image of Miriam spirituality. To make God’s love visible is to stand with those who suffer. Everyone who loves Mary should ask during their journey to God: “What am I doing to reach out to others? To my neighbor whom God created in His own image and likeness? To my neighbor whom I share the same flesh? What is the point of all achievements we can have in life if we do not take care of our marginalized sisters and brothers?”
It is very timely that Pope Francis, in his encyclical Fratelli Tutti, wrote,
“Solidarity finds concrete expression in service, which can take a variety of forms in an effort to care for others. And service in great part means ‘caring for vulnerability, for the vulnerable members of our families, our society, our people.’”
Regardless of religion, race, age, and gender, we are all sisters and brothers of the same Father. This should propel us to take care of one another and dream and hope of a united world despite differences. Each disciple of Miriam should share with the sufferings of the vulnerable in the society, and out of it, we may born Jesus to the world.
To imbibe Miriam spirituality is to be Miriam — the reflection of the living Christ.
May Miriam of Nazareth teach us her ways and lead us to Jesus. Amen.
