Tuesday, August 15, 2017


MARY’S  BLURTS


The title of my homily is, “Mary’s Blurts.”

I assume that I have to make this sermon for this feast of the Assumption shorter than usual - because this Mass calls for the Gloria, 3 readings, the Creed, a collection - and some of you have to get to work.

I assume that Mary was like the rest of us - in that she inwardly and outwardly - blurted out - tiny blurts - tiny - one, two, three or more words -  short sentences  - shorter - much shorter than tweets - during her life.

I assume she thought and spoke in Aramaic and I only know the few Aramaic words in the gospels that Jesus spoke, “Talitha  cum” , “Ephphatha”, “Mammon”, “Hosanna”, “Boanerges",  “Cephas”.

So I imagined some of Mary’s blurts in English - and to make this homily practical - think of what your blurts are  - and what you imagine Mary’s blurts were.

So here are my assumptions for what Mary’s blurts would be.

“Uh oh!”

“What does this mean?”

“Full of grace?”

“A compliment? Okay, now comes the request.”

“Be a mother?”

“How?”

“Okay - be it done to me as you wish.”

“No room in the Inn? What were we thinking?”

“I don’t believe this.”

“Oh my God, so many innocent babies killed.”

“But we don’t know any Egyptian.”

“It’s time to go exit, exodus, go home.”

“Nazareth!  It’s good to be home again.”

“Jerusalem, again, now what?”

“Jesus,  where are you?”

“Why did you do this to us?  We’ve been looking for you for 2 days now.”

“Where did he get this wisdom?”

“They have run out of wine.”

“Listen to him.”

“Me blessed, no? You, yes if you do the will of our Father.”

“That’s sword number 5. Two more to come….”

“On no, they’re going force him to carry his cross up this way to Calvary.”

“Oh no!”

“Come Holy Spirit.”

”Oh my God.”

“My soul magnifies the Lord.”


- O - O - O - O - O - O - O -

NOTES:

Painting on top: The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1898. It can be found in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.


For these imagined annunciations or blurts by Mary I followed the scripture stories - especially in Luke and Matthew.

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