The question, “Mary did you know” dates from 1984.  Mark Lowry wrote the the lyrics for “Mary, Did You Know? ” The song went on to become a modern Christmas classic.

I find the lyrics raise questions I did not know I wanted to ask Mary.

In this Vincentian Mindwalk, I invite you think about the questions, add your own, and, finally, think about what we might learn from the questions.

The lyrics ask…

Mary did you know?

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you’ve delivered, will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know that your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?
Did you know that your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little baby, you have kissed the face of God

These questions started me thinking and asking.

Questions I never thought to ask

When did she know she was conceived without sin?

I doubt whether she had consciousness of her Immaculate Conception the moment she was conceived. I doubt whether Joachim and Anne were aware of this marvelous privilege at that time.

So, when and how did Mary become aware of her Immaculate Conception? Was it during her lifetime? Or, was it only at the moment of her Assumption to heaven?

What was Mary expecting while she was expecting?

We can make some well-educated guesses about what Mary was waiting for.

Joachim and Anne probably taught her to pray for the long-awaited Savior! A king who would turn the tables on their oppressor and rescue them.

But neither she nor her parents thought this Savior would be found in a manger and end on a cross!

They never thought that his kingdom would be unlike the kingdoms of the world they knew – with some on top and others being oppressed.

They never thought of a kingdom where all would not only be equal, but each would be servants of the other.

A lifetime of pondering all these things… and more

We so often miss that just as Jesus, she too had a lifetime of growing in wisdom, age, and grace. “She pondered all these things in her heart.”

Hers is a story about the process of moving from “How can this be?” to “Let it be!”

Her assumption into heaven offers great hope for us

Viewed in the light of these questions, the feast of the Assumption holds great hope for us.

Who among us does not have things that we cannot make sense of now?

Among the many lessons of this feast is that all the things we cannot understand now will one day be clear to us. She teaches us to trust that one day we will all understand the things that we cannot understand… and even rail against.

Blessed is she who believed!

“Mary is the model of virtue and of faith. Today, in contemplating her Assumption into Heaven, the final fulfillment of her earthly journey, we thank her because she always precedes us in the pilgrimage of life and faith. She is the first Disciple.

“And we ask her to keep us and support us; that we may have a strong, joyful and merciful faith; that she may help us to be saints, to meet with her, one day, in Heaven.”  Pope Francis

Mary FINALLY knows the answers!

For now, we try to move from “How can this be?” to “let it be!”

Originally posted on Vincentian Mindwalk