We have often celebrate the birth of Jesus with so much rejoicing. The angels sang, the shepherds rejoiced, the three wise men came from far. Today, I suddenly wonder about the feelings of Mother Mary. You can watch the What Child is this on youtube and listen to Josh Groban with video depicting Jesus’s birth.
And I think I want to ponder about how she feels…..She was like a fugitive on the run. Inspite of her pregnancy, she had to flee to Bethlehem on a donkey. I cannot imagine riding a donkey, all bouncy and bumpy. I rode on an ambulance before and the ambulance driver treated me like a fragile piece of crystal when they transported me from my two and half storey house down to the ambulance and all the way to the hospital. They even slowed down during the bumps on the road. So, can you imagine Mother Mary, a young girl had to endure a donkey ride with no trained nurses and no hunky ambulance assistants? Only Joseph.
Then, she wasn’t waited on by expert midwives. Forget about ob-gyns and sterile hospital settings. All she got was a cowshed or maybe worst, pig’s sty? Pig’s shit smell the foulest. Baby Jesus didn’t come out, welcomed by trained paediatrician to give Him the quick check on His pulse and respiration and a slap on His baby bum. For all we know, Baby Jesus plopped onto a pile of hay, previously used by some calves? Can you hear the moo mooo….mekkk…mekkk…of the goats, sheeps, cows, chicken and whatever animals in that manger?
I wonder too….when Mother Mary gave birth to Jesus, did she had the mother instinct that tells her that her Son, the Son of God, will die before her? When she gave birth, does she know that He is going to live a very hard life? I don’t think God gave Mother Mary the future prediction. All Mary did was to accept whatever God told her and she just keep going and running and hiding and fleeing.
I guess some of you who are not Catholic Christians may not know or believe that babies who were born around Jesus’s birth were all killed because King Herod wanted to make sure that Jesus did not live.
King Herod ordered the execution of all young male children in the village of Bethlehem, so as to avoid the loss of his throne to a newborn “King of the Jews” whose birth had been announced to him by the Magi.
So, Mary, after given birth to Jesus, with post natal pains and all had to run again. Forget about confinement pantangs. Hahaha.
Therefore, as a mom and a woman, I think I can feel the hardship of Mother Mary. Though she may be called the Mother of God today, she certainly did not had a peachy life as a mother back then. Prayerfully, I will start to begin a journey to know Mary in the coming years. Right now, I still have problems embracing Mother Mary as my Mother. I discovered why I have that barrier during my psychology course reflection and exam papers. So, Mary is the wonder woman who takes everything with such courage and strength.
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