Sin Vergüenza: Finding a Home in the Tensions of IdentitySample

Day 1: The Scary In-between

La Virgen Maria! As a teenager growing up in New York City I remember everyone trying to get their hands on two pieces of jewelry: Jesus’ face or the image of his mother, Mary. 

Over the years I began to ask myself, ‘how important is Mary to the story of her son?’ Was she just the surrogate that carried Jesus? Or was she more than that?

Our concern for who Mary was and her role in our faith journey comes from the simple reality that it was through her womb that our Savior came. God chose her. And while there may not have been anything unique or special about Mary to compel God to choose her, he still chose her and made her life special when he did.

Mary represents something of the mission of Jesus. She represents possibility in the face of impossibility. She represents God’s will and blessing in and from an unlikely place.

In Luke 1:48 Mary gives us the primary reason she sings to God: “…because he has looked with favor on the humble condition of his servant.” 

Mary found herself in the intersection of many identities— a poor Galilean woman in a seemingly illegitimate pregnancy. Each one of those adjectives packs an emotional punch and placed her on the margins of society. Perhaps like Mary you also find yourself in the margins, but somehow also in the middle— belonging neither here nor there; to this place nor to that place. Like we say in our house, ‘ni de aqua, ni de alla.’ Perhaps this has left you wondering where you could find ‘home.’ Perhaps this place of unknown and ambiguity is what you feel at work, at family gatherings, even in your church community.

Often, existing with those tensions and intersections only qualifies you to be forgotten, unimportant and with no real home in society. Pero no estas solo— you’re not alone! 

Jesus is well known for fulfilling the words of the prophet in Isaiah 61 when he says, “He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners.” This was a declaration that his mission, while it was aimed at the entire creation, was uniquely and passionately aimed at the vulnerable of society — often the poor, orphans and widows. 

Jesus makes it clear that his message as much as his mission was given to him from his Father in heaven. But I can’t help imagine how much of this messaging he also experienced from his mother, Mary, and the environment he was born into. Before Jesus was even born, at the announcement of conception Mary declared, “He has satisfied the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:53)

You may not see many models that reflect your journey, hermana. Journeys that reflect the tensions you live with; that stand in the same intersections as you do. But that’s a good sign, because we don’t all walk the same path, yet we all walk with the same Savior. Choosing Mary and Mary’s acknowledgment of the unique thing God was up to is special. Gabriel, the angel knew it. She knew it. Elizabeth knew it. And we would follow in that same legacy if we also acknowledged it. In this season I am grateful for Mary, the mother of our Savior. And I'm praying that you would begin to praise God for the place you come from.

Reflection: 

• Where have you lived with shame because your journey with Jesus doesn’t resemble those of your friends or even other Christians?
• Have you looked at your tensions with disdain because you’ve seen them as obstacles? Considering the story of Mary how can you now see your tensions as gifts to you in the journey?