Mary barely exists in the Bible. really?

Mary in the Bible: Mary’s Presence in the Old and New Testaments

Prepared to embark on a journey this September with Mary in the Word? Let’s go!Mary perfectly realizes in herself the Daughter of Zion and the full beauty of the Church, bride of Christ and Mother of the redeemed. If we follow Tradition where oral and written Word intertwine, we discover that from Creation, through Israel, everything converges to the incarnate Word.How many times have we heard it said: “We don’t talk much about Mary in the Bible! Or, Mary wasn’t important in the history of salvation or the history of the Church, as we don’t talk about her much.” However, in the writings of the Apostles and Evangelists, we find an abundance that, throughout the centuries, has not exhausted its meanings to our days. Similarly, in Mary, the Word of God has progressively expanded, for the Word is not static. If we were to use an image, we could say that from the revelation of the Old Testament, passing through the incarnation of the Word in the fullness of time and now with the time of the Church evangelizing, we reach the eschatological fulfillment. Let’s then explore some points of Mary’s presence in history.Witness to the person of the Risen One, Mary in the early Christian Church began to be the subject of questions within the Jerusalem community. Clarifications that came from the Paschal experience regarding her role and identity, and were answered through the texts of the Old Testament. In fact, if we read the New Testament, we find Mary’s presence and function inscribed in the lights and shadows of the prophecies, where the fullness of time would bring about the Messiah and his Mother in a confluence of the old and always new Covenant.Let’s consider the mothers of Israel, on Mount Sinai, in the City of Jerusalem, the three prophecies about the mother of the Messiah:– Gen 3:15: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers. He will strike at your head, and you will strike at his heel.”– Isa 7:14: “For the Lord himself will give you a sign: The young woman will conceive and give birth to a son, and she will name him Emmanuel.”– …Mi 5:2: “Therefore God will abandon them until the time when he gives birth to the one who is to give birth. Then the rest of his brothers will return to the children of Israel.”If we look at Mary solely through the lens of history, we arrive at few conclusions that the Evangelists have drawn: Mary is a Hebrew woman introduced in the Gospels alongside Jesus, and she is part of a family group composed of *brothers of Jesus* who played a role in both the pre-Paschal and post-Paschal communities, although in the development of the Gospels, the Mother of Jesus disappears to make way for the twelve and the disciples. However, the soberness of the biblical narrative, when contrasted with *midrashic* forms of scriptural interpretation, reveals a richness of symbolism that illuminates the historical description and raises it to an inexhaustible depth.Without erasing the history, we stand before the Mother of the Word. Word is not an abstract term, but rather refers to the Hebrew term *dabar*, which does not mean speech, dialogue, teaching, doctrine, but rather event, occurrence. In this sense, to say Mary and the Word of God means to say Mary and the event of God in history, especially as God acts in the mystery. The way God’s transcendence occurs in history without losing its creative power, submitting itself to human history.We can then trace God’s events in history of salvation as follows: the creative Word of revelation in the time of Moses, the prophetic Word, the wise Word of the sages, the Word made flesh in Jesus, the *Kerygma* (gospel) apostolic announcement, the testimony of the Church, and the history of Mary. The Mother of Living Ones relates to all these words, from predestination to sanctity in God’s creative act (Immaculate Conception), the burning bush that does not consume itself before Moses (Perpetual Virginity), God’s wisdom on a throne (Throne of Wisdom), the God *born of a woman* from Paul’s kerygmatic preaching (Divine Maternity), the Church expanding in divine filiation (*spiritual motherhood*).Are there still doubts about Mary’s relationship with the Word of God?To deepen Mary’s biblical presence, consult Pope John Paul II’s encyclical: *Redemptoris Mater* on Mary in the pilgrimage of biblical faith and in the history of salvation.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian theology, Marian apparitions, and the Graduate Program in Mariology.