It is always beautiful to talk about Jesus by talking about His mother, Mary.
Mary gave birth to a child and named Him, Jesus, which means “God saves.”
Mary is derived from the ancient Hebrew name Miriam. It means beloved, according to the Bible Name dictionary.
The name Mary became widespread even in remote areas of Mountain Province. It evolved to Maria and was used as common baptismal name.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus defines womanhood, stewardship of the family, and faith.
We don’t worship Mary because she is the mother of Jesus and we don’t worship her because she is not equal with her son, Jesus. We honor and respect her for being a woman and for being faithful to her mission, that is, to bring forth Jesus and to take care of him until his death.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” (Luke 1:26-33)
We rejoice with the world in remembering and celebrating the birthday of Mary on Sept. 8. With grateful hearts, we celebrated it with joy for God indeed is a God of love and faithfulness.
“Hesed” is a Hebrew word to mean loving faithfulness or faithful love. It is the authentic definition of God’s covenant and it is loving faithfulness. It is not enough to love but to be faithful and it is not enough to be faithful but to love.
Mary is not a god. She is the mother of Jesus who exemplified authentic faith. She trusted the Lord despite her weakness to fully understand the announcement of the angel. She did not keep grace for herself but she shared it to the needy. She shared first to her cousin Elizabeth and all those who received were filled with joy.
Mary was a mother and yet a disciple of her Son who took care of the family. Mary, therefore is a woman of strength who constantly intercedes. She has the privilege and capacity to intervene for the people. Mary is a living epitome of responsible womanhood and profound faith.
On Sept. 2, the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office of Mountain Province invited me to talk about women and to inspire the MOVE during the general assembly. I focused on the fundamental meaning and right of women. Their fundamental right is to be loved.
MOVE stands for Men Opposed to Violence against Women Everywhere. It is under the program of Miguela Angwani.
Peter Apangchay, an active police of the Mountain Province Provincial Police Office,was selected as president while Roland Bragado, an employee of the provincial government, as vice president.
My talk revolved around the topics: women in the Bible; women today; and men’s move and activities to empower women and to promote respect to them, to curb violence against them, and to love them as women and not as objects.
Women are gifted with greater degree of “binah”, an intuition and understanding among the Jewish people. No wonder, the first name uttered by children when they are hurt is mama, ina, ma, nanay.
A mother will have peace of mind when she learns that her children are at peace or safe.
Reach me at [email protected].
