Women of
Courage – The Study of Mary, the mother of Jesus - Sept 21
Question
1: Of all the women in Scripture, Mary
stands out above all others as being the
most blessed. What does the word blessed mean to you?
Chosen by
God for a special purpose, Holy, sacred, consecrated
The word is
thrown out a lot. We are blessed because
our heart beats from one moment to the next, blessed to be here. Think of the blessings God tells us at the
Sermon on the mount. God blesses us in so many ways. We often overlook the
small things and even the trials.
Journaling is a great way to keep track and look back at all the
blessings. When we go through battles,
if we write down the battles, our struggles, then we see how God leads us
through. We also need to look at all the
good, all the little things. An example
was a woman in stage 4 cancer who praised God for the ability to clean her
toilet that day. A simple task we often overlook
the privilege to accomplish.
“I must tell
Jesus”…. A song that reminds us that we should go to Jesus with everything.
The angel
that spoke to her, “Hail thou are highly favored”. It wasn’t ideal circumstances, but she was
willing to go through the struggles and trials for God. The angel is telling her verbally what God
thought of her.
We are just
as blessed and treasured by God
Eph. 1:6 In
love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to
the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he
has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8
which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9 making known to us the
mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10
as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in
heaven and things on earth.
Question 2:
What are some of the dangers that arise if Mary is elevated too much?
Anything
that takes our focus off of Christ becomes an idol. Anything.
She was
human, she sinned, but chosen. It is sad
that the ways of God are always perverted and twisted by the world, but this is
what spiritual wickedness continues to do.
It is always in the realm of spiritual wickedness, if we realize the
origins and pray for God to help us fight the battles.
Our power
remains with God and we need to immerse ourselves in God’s word. We need to depend on our Lord. Although Satan cannot read our minds, we are
being watched daily and those cracks are revealed. Since our weakness is revealed, we can ask God
to mind our tongues and guide our footsteps.
God protects us with His angels and provides his Holy Spirit to guide
us.
We have all
been blind, lost, sinners, but God through his infinite wisdom has chosen
us. We too need to have compassion on
those that are not in the faith and do not know God. We must love, even when they despise us.
To venerate
or emulate – She was not to be uplifted beyond Christ, but we can learn from
her life.
Question 3:
Describe Mary’s early years in Nazareth:
Nazareth was a small town, in Galilee, their neighbors were Samaritan,
which means, and there was idol worship nearby.
The area was similar to the area in which we live, dry, poor; there was
a mountain range that Samaria was nestled in.
They were a working family. We
knew that Joseph was a tradesman. There
may have been a trade route either near or going through the town. They had access to the Sea of Galilee. Rome was in control over the area. How sweet that God chose that area and that
time for his Son to come to us.
