Contemplative Corner #193 To proclaim Mary as “Mother of God” is at once to proclaim her as a master contemplative. To understand why, consider the well-known and established theological reasoning behind the title “mother of God”: that in birthing Jesus, Mary becomes mother not only to his human body and human nature, but to his divine nature as well. Mary’s “let it be done unto me” (Lk 1:30) is far more than just an agreement to provide a fleshy container for the Divine Son. Rather, she is consenting to receive perfect Love into herself, and to willingly undertake all the joy, pain, revelation and strife that will surely come with welcoming this Love and sharing it with the world. And wouldn’t you know, the woman who births Love into the world most perfectly is a woman of few words? Mary speaks only seven times in the New Testament, and is the most venerated figure in Christianity aside from Jesus himself. Don’t dismiss these two facts as coincidental! Mary would had to have maintained an interior posture of receptivity and trust – a contemplative posture – to live out her own identity of mothering Divine Presence in her life, and to prepare her son to freely accept his identity as one with the Divine. So must our contemplative practice assure us of our Divine union, and ready us to be a gateway for Presence in the world!