Sermon: Blessed Virgin Mary 2013

There is something about Mary–the mother of Jesus has attracted both adoration and controversy for nearly 2000 years. Her story has attracted intense speculation and theological debate at the intersection of gender, the nature of God, human agency, and the humanity of Jesus. In this homily we explored the image of Mary as a vehicle for encountering her life and responding to it. Texts for the day included Isaiah 61.7-11, Psalm 45.7-18, Galatians 4.4-7, and Luke 1.46-55.

Usually when I post sermons I don't include the forum time when I solicit feedback. But because it is so crucial to this particular sermon, I did. Basically, the whole point of this sermon was get people to construct and then engage an icon of Mary in their minds. Another way I could have done this was simply have them look at an icon such as the one I had an the leaflet for this sunday (below). But something about having them do it through guided meditation seemed like a better idea to me at the time.

Here is the leaflet created for the liturgy.


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