An Easter Nativityنموونە

I was there.
I saw it all.
The angel who told me I would carry God’s Son,
the look in Joseph’s eyes when he thought I had betrayed him
and when he told me of his dream.
The seemingly endless road to Bethlehem for the census,
and journeys to Jerusalem to visit the Temple and see friends in the city.

I saw him take his first steps and watched him fall over,
Joseph and I taught him to read and after that he was always in the synagogue or following the Rabbi’s around asking questions and listening to their stories.

Today was different though,
each step
and each fall
was an agony.
My boy was barely recognizable, they had treated him mercilessly.
I don’t know where I found the strength to stand at the foot of the cross,
but John was there with me and my son, he looked at me and asked me to care for John and for John to care for me. It’s hard to describe the love in his eyes but it filled my broken heart with hope.

I remembered the gift of myrrh the travellers gave us, I remembered the promise of the angel and what my son said, so many times, to not be afraid. I don’t know what comes after today, after this horrible day, but I know that there is more, that there is still hope, that even his death in such a brutal way can have meaning and can save us all. O Lord, have mercy on us all.

Please, pray with me, join me in these words: Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, Amen.

This monologue was originally used as part of a Good Friday Walk of Witness liturgy, use it and the scripture that inspired it to reflect on these two foundational events.

Put yourself in Mary's place watching these events, contemplate her experience of this day and of the resurrection to come.