Mary is the Word of God, both person and event.

Maria and the Word: Person and Event

The meaning of this approach invites us to avoid elaborating a theology of the Word and then applying it to Mary. Instead, we must ask ourselves what the Word meant in the life and personality of this woman.The simplest way to establish a relationship between Mary and the Word is to take a moment to clarify both. It goes without saying that Mary can only be approached through her history and life. In fact, we know very little about her in a biographical sense.Some authors have attempted to gather, in a historical manner, what can be said about Mary: comparing passages from Mark 3:31-35, 6:3; Galatians 4:4; Luke 11:27-28; and John 2:12, and Acts 1:14. They reached some conclusions that can be easily summarized: Mary is a Hebrew woman presented in the Gospels alongside Jesus, forming part of a family group, Jesus’ brothers, who played a role both during the pre-Paschal period and in the post-Paschal community, although this role was relativized in the Gospels in favor of the twelve and the disciples.These conclusions are obvious. It is worth recalling the fundamental data from the Gospels that present Mary as the “mother of Jesus.” The soberness of the biblical narrative derives from the midrashic way in which it was written, that is, the narrative often assumes a richness of symbolism aimed at illuminating the event and offering a first interpretation. These symbols can enrich our understanding of Mary, but they should not obscure the concreteness of her history. Mary is not a myth or a symbol, but a specific person: the mother of Jesus!

Midrash

It is a method of Jewish exegesis that developed after the Babylonian exile. Its purpose was to build associations and applications from a biblical text that went beyond its literal meaning. The Hebrews distinguished two types of midrash: *midrash Halakhah* (Heb. *way*), which focused on oral law, and *midrash* itself.Haggadah (Hebrew: narration), tends to clarify the non-legal sections of the Bible.After reaching a conclusion regarding the historicity of Mother of Jesus, we now turn to the Word. It can be said that this is an abstract term that serves to refer to something concrete: God’s Word indicates God speaking. The Hebrew word dabar, word, does not initially refer to a teaching or doctrine, but to an event. We can describe God’s Word as an act, as language, and as a mystery. As an act, the Word is God’s act, that is, God acting. The transcendence of divine action ensures that His Word, as it enters history, remains divine and continues to be unique in its creative power. On the other hand, its submission to history means that, under the human aspect, the unchanging and eternal Verbum expands and manifests itself in different times: there is the creative Verbum, the revelation of Moses on Sinai, the prophetic Verbum, the wisdom of the sages, the Verbum made flesh in Jesus, the Kerygma, and the testimony of the Church. And there is also the history of Mary.As God’s act, the Word is an event for all, a meeting, and retains the power of a revelation. Therefore, Paul reminds the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 2:4, that his language was not based on “my word, and my preaching did not consist of persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”In addition to an act, the Word is also language and, as such, expresses God’s intent and His inner world: in the Word, that source of love from which will flow the trinitarian life and salvation is expressed.Therefore, God’s Word cannot be reduced to a script inspired by God, because it is much more than that; the Scriptures have a revelatory and educational task because, illuminating hearts, like a sword of two edges, they separate what should be separated.As a mystery, the Word constantly refers to its divine origin and the purpose that God intends to communicate. However, there is a fact of concealment of the Word: it does not always appear transparently, but often appears in profane forms and communicates a life wisdom or a religious or social choice from which one could also disagree. In this way, the Word conceals its provenance by showing both the scandal of the Nazarenes with their contemporary Jesus and Peter’s unwillingness to enter into the mystery of the cross. Overcoming this human appearance and grasping its divine origin is not always easy; the Word can only be recognized in its truth in faith. That is why Jesus will comment on Peter’s faith by reminding him that “neither flesh nor blood revealed it, but my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 16:17).To deepen reflection on Mary and God’s Word, consult the encyclical Redemptoris Mater by John Paul II, which contemplates Mary as one who received and incarnated the divine Word in a unique and perfect way.Deepen your studies: explore Mariology, Marian theology, Marian apparitions, and the Graduate Program in Mariology.