Mother of Divine Mercy
“Blessed art thou among women and
blessed is the Fruit of thy womb Jesus”
Luke 1:26-35
This is a memorable celebration by Christians of relative denominations of Christian Mothers” groups organised yearly in respect and honour of Virgin Mary the divine Mother of the Son of the Most High; our Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you think Mary deserves such an honour?
(Below is a Script sample of a 'Talk' given at one of the Christian Mothers’ May Event.)
Who is a Christian Mother?
We honour Mary but do not worship her. The same time every year we highlight on the characteristics, the image of Mother Mary as a divine Mother of Mercy. We seek her as our role Model who all women of faith would like to emulate. Once a year in the month of May we come together as Mothers and Christian Mothers in our faith to praise, worship, sing and dance to God in honour of our Blessed Virgin Mary; Mother of Jesus our Saviour.
A Mother and a Christian Mother is the theme for the day's discussion.
Who is a Mother? any woman of child bearing age with a child either by birth or by adoption or cares for a Child. One does not need to carry a child in her womb for nine months to be a Mother to the child. Some children are left by the roadside after birth by their biological Mothers; got picked up by passers-by who raise them or send them to Agencies for care arrangements. However a Christian Mother is a Mother with special attached commitments. A commitment to raise a child in a Christian way according to God’s will. But the question remains which of these two a Mother or Christian Mother is doing a more rigorous job more complicated and trying?
This, of course is the role of a Mother simply because she is doing it single handed. Virgin Mary relied on the will of God Almighty as a Mother; the reason why she is able to bear victoriously the sorrows and agony of her Son's sufferings and death. James 2: 26 says that Faith without good work is like a body without spirit. We should tell others who we are by our actions. Christian Mothers wherever based, we are Christian Mothers to prove to friends and families, neighbours, our Country and to the global world.
Question: Do I need to join a Christian Mothers’ group to become a Christian Mother? The answer is NO! But there are benefits.
Answer a Call: The role of a Christian Mother is a 'Call' to join the Christian Motherhood group. When you are called to do a special job for God, it is a privilege. Matthew 4:19 Jesus said to the disciples’ follow me’ because Jesus knows who they are and he believes in them. When David the son of Jesse the greatest Harpist was called, 1 Samuel 17:20, he did not question why; neither did he go with only his Harp-playing skills but with gifts of an Ass load of bread. The same may apply to you.
If you belong to a Christian Mothers’ group, you have answered to a call and that involves keeping up the right attitude to it which on its own is a sacrifice. Secondly, with the group you will make valid contributions with your skills which sometimes we may not realise what skills we are gifted with until we join in. But if you haven’t, just watch and pray; Samuel was called three times before he actually recognised; is the Lord. 1 Samuel 3:8.
Cluster in Faith: Jesus made us the promise that where there are two, He is the third person. There is love and strength in unity. Romans 12:10. Says to us ‘take delight in honouring each other…; we should not be self-centred, self-seeking and self-sufficient’. We need each other. As Mothers, we should work together because we need to play as a team. When we pray, we fight in spirit. Coming together to share the word of God is to get equipped with the spiritual strength just as the world forms an alliance.
What qualities found in Mary qualify her to such an honour?
Many ask this question many times in life: why should the name of Virgin Mary be on highlight? They want to know what makes her special if not she is simply a Jewish Mother equally the same as any other Mother or woman from other races.
To answer to this question or get acquainted with Virgin Mary, with all due respect one needs to focus on what the bible reveals of her humble nature. The bible gives us a priceless insight of these outstanding qualities of her love, faith, humility and hope in God the Father.
Virgin Mary is the highly favoured one and blessed among women. No one can dispute that this is an exceptional privilege by God, revealed by Angel Gabriel. To crown all, she as the chosen one to be the Mother of a child (not any child) the one who is endowed with the kingship from the linage of David; who will reign forever and his kingdom will have no end. Besides she is a woman of integrity and obedience; a symbol of hope which women of all ages should emulate her caring nature and love dedicated to her family the ‘Holy Family' Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
Humility: We should not be overindulged when we ask for our daily bread - the basic life needs. Mary lived, supported and remained loyal to her husband who was a Carpenter. Man, we should eat to live but for some of us, we live to eat (talking about eating includes other material things) like undue leisure, looking good, pomposity, fornication, not to forget that our body is the temple of the holy Spirit and should be used for God’s Glory only 1Cor. 6:19; the type of life Virgin Mary lived, for every Mother to comply with in her matrimonial home.
Love: If there is anything on earth to be compared with ‘Heaven’ should be our ‘Home' where husband and wife and children live with that bond of love and peace on one another for God. Col. 3: 18- 21 points out on everyone’s duty to one another as a family. On the Contrary, this highlights Hell on earth’ if a family lacks God’s foundation of improved Morals and spiritual standard which helps us to combat the evils such as infidelity, violence, dishonesty, lies and greed. Families should see themselves as a family of God chosen ones like the ‘Holy Family' and determined by God’s grace to go by what is instructed in Col. 3:12-15 - to be clothed with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, tolerant, unity and forgiveness…most of all with love; just as it is written in 1John 3:18 - Love not in word or tongue but in did and in Truth.
Prayerful: Prayer is the soil in which hope grows best. No matter how dark is the day, how thick is the cloud and how helpless one feels, God will direct in all his doings if he remains in the Lord like Virgin Mary and keep up in prayer. Mary's prayerful attitude stands out in her Songs of praise; Luke 2:46-55. When Jesus suffered death and was crucified, Mary was seen at the foot of the Cross and showed no hostility to anyone or in any manner. If we see Virgin Mary as our role model in this oppressing and devastating world, these unique qualities of hers applied in our daily life, will certainly enable us to overcome great amount of temptations, tribulations and adversities.
Faith: Virgin Mary is strong in’ Faith.’ She said to Angel Gabriel “I am the Lord’s Servant, may it happen to me as you have said.”Luke1:38.There is no doubt that Virgin Mother has the Faith that willingly accepted and submitted to the will of God. She laid her life down for us knowing she could be stoned to death if discovered she is pregnant without a husband, yet she accepted.
We are living today in the age of ‘uncertainty and fear. Fear of human destruction and natural disasters; of diseases and untimely death. Must we anxiously await the verdict of the enemy? No! Philippines 4:8 tells us “to be anxious of nothing…....but to ask God for whatever our needs may be” Such is the faith Mary has and what we need to overcome such anxieties of the time. Following the foot-steps of Virgin Mary, we should remain strong in ‘Faith’ when we are going through immeasurable trauma of pain from illness, abuse, neglect, poverty, insults from families and friends, in our communities, at places of work and study or starved of love from our faith.
Hope : Such times leave us with little or no hope for future. We became drained and cannot pray or think straight, we lose appetite and lost sleep, confused and perplexed. This time we must remain ‘STILL’ however difficult; truly it is rather easier said than done but one has to try. Virgin Mary developed hope on God's intervention at the foot of the cross. A lesson for everyone – ‘we must not let problems get us down but to stand and remain STILL; look up at Jesus on the cross as Mary did.
Glorious blessing : If you are a woman, count yourself blessed if you are favoured with the fruit of the womb. The scripture confirms Virgin Mary blessed; Luke 1:26-35 “Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb Jesus” This does not mean God has forgotten barrenness of women; the pain. Isaiah 54:1 proclaims blessings for barren women who still put their trust in God. Sarah ; Genesis.11:30, Hannah; 1Samuel 2:5; Elizabeth and a lot more were barren but were blessed with children at a later age.
Until fairly recently, the world society has developed a broad view about adoption. The scripture tells us we are adopted children of God, the Heirs to his throne. Galatians 4:4 says that God assigns this privilege (Heirs to his throne through adoption) to us by sending his only Son to be born by a human Mother Virgin Mary.
We are blessed if we have children, double blessed when we have and adopt to give love to those who are less opportune. A blessing tripled if we don't have at all but consider to give hope and home to these children out there begging for love. What more do we want to know about adoption? In conclusion, blessing brings responsibility. When God blesses you, you must bless others; use whatever blessings God has given you to bless others.