 |
| An Icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary |
Some of my memories of the church where I grew up still come back to me from time to time: Standing up in an old wooden pew gazing at the mystery of the Holy Eucharist unfold. Smelling frankincense. Seeing the smoky yellow hue envelope the sanctuary when the light shining through the golden stained glass windows hit the smoke of a billowing thurible. Lighting a candle at the foot of the Mother of Jesus. Admiring a vivid icon of a Civil Rights martyr. Taking in people of all backgrounds sharing a sign of peace, then the Body and Blood, then the mini-feast of Coffee Hour.
These images not only float back
to me, but they represent my upbringing at St. Andrew’s Church, Birmingham. Even
more than those powerful memories, the church of my childhood gifted me with
two profoundly important Christian virtues: reverent piety and faithful action.
Yesterday and today in the Church Calendar may be the most fitting days to
celebrate these virtues.
No time in the entire Church year
is as St. Andrew’s-y as the Feasts of Blessed Jonathan Myrick Daniels (celebrated
on August 14th) and the Blessed Virgin Mary (celebrated on August 15th).
In their individual witnesses of the Good News of Christ Jesus these two
beloveds of God tied together reverent piety and faithful action— intentional
devotion and social justice. Even more than the back-to-back nature of their
celebrations in the calendar of saints, God weaves these two holy ones
together. And, we will discover just how closely in just a moment.
Yesterday, when remembering the
life of Jonathan Myrick Daniels I found myself struck by his faithful action.
He traveled down to Selma, AL to take part in the Civil Rights Movement. While
others from the Episcopal Divinity School came with him for a weekend, as most
of them were about to depart Daniels wondered what that would look like to
locals—just staying for a weekend. So, he made arrangements to stay longer.
After spending some time back in the Northeast to finish finals and to fulfill
family obligations, Daniels returned to the Black Belt of Alabama where he
would soon be martyred by stepping in front of a shotgun blast that was
intended for young, black woman. Sometimes it is hard to know what would
strengthen someone to withstand such a holy calling as martyrdom. How could
Blessed Jonathan have the courage to stand up for his sister in Christ? What
sustained him? What can sustain us?
Daniels felt so challenged and
encouraged not simply on his own, but through faithful devotion. That is to say
his ability to faithfully act emanated from his time spent in daily individual
prayer—the Daily Office—and his time spent in communal prayer—the Holy
Eucharist. He was ready to be a martyr because he practiced martyrdom by
stopping what he would have otherwise been doing to pray to and to commune with
Christ. One part of the Daily Office though served as a poignant catalyst for
his pilgrimage to the Black Belt area. It was in the words of the Blessed
Virgin Mary that Jonathan Daniels heard God beckoning him. As Daniels described
it:
“My
soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” I
had come to Evening Prayer as usual that evening, and as usual I was singing
the Magnificat with the special love and reverence I have always felt for
Mary's glad song. “He hath showed strength with his arm.” As the lovely hymn of
the God-bearer continued, I found myself peculiarly alert, suddenly straining
toward the decisive, luminous, Spirit-filled “moment” that would, in
retrospect, remind me of others—particularly one at Easter three years ago.
Then it came. “He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted
the humble and meek. He hath filled the hungry with good things.” I knew then
that I must go to Selma. The Virgin's song was to grow more and more dear in
the weeks ahead.[1]
The life of the Blessed Virgin
Mary and the Good News of Christ thus was woven into the life of Jonathan
Myrick Daniels—reverent devotion inspiring acts of social justice. Our love and
devotion of God, our holy parent, is inseparable from the call to serve God’s
beloved children. Jonathan’s life reflected this truth, and so did Mary’s.
Throughout the Gospel of Our
Lord Christ Jesus we discover snippets about Mary’s life. Gabriel’s
unbelievable message, the Holy Spirit coming upon her, the escape to Egypt, the
Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem, seeing Jesus teach, going to the foot of the
Cross, and seeing the Risen Christ, all of these were moments of reverent
devotion and faithful action. Often though we do not think of Mary’s everyday
speech. Sure, we recall fondly, as Daniels did, the Magnificat. But, what about
her everyday speaking? We do not hear a lot of that in the Gospel accounts—save
for John’s.
At Jesus’ first miracle, at the
wedding feast in Cana, Mary’s says something so mundane that we might easily
forget it. Once the wine ran out Mary told Jesus such. When Jesus confided in
his mother that he was not ready—that it was not yet his hour—Mary turned to
the servants. And said words not just of a loving mother, but of one who points
us in the direction of following Jesus: “Do whatever he tells you.”
All of us who follow Jesus are
called to mix together the great virtues exemplified in the community of St.
Andrew’s—reverent devotion and faithful action. We are called to reverently
devote ourselves to prayer and to nourishment in the sacraments. And there we
are to listen to Christ just as Brother Jonathan did, and like Mother Mary said
we are to do whatever Christ tells us. Amen.
[1] The Jon Daniels Story, ed. William J Schneider (Seabury Press,
NY, 1967).
No comments:
Post a Comment