The lights are down, the decorations stored for the year, Christmas has come and gone once more in our busy lives—and what did we gain? It is not too far into our new year for the resolutions to be forgotten, although we might bring them to mind one more time to nail them in and see if they’ve taken root.

Each Christmas is a chance to go deeper and I delight in God’s new pearls of wisdom. “Last year,” I remark with amazement, “I was so far from God’s will, not as I see it now. He is so patient with me!” And yet, what was fresh last year has indeed paled in comparison with what life’s lessons brought me to this year. Yes, God is patient indeed, and we have a long way to go.

But where is Our Lady? Although we have moved on from the birth, what we celebrated a matter of weeks ago still leaves her with a newborn babe at the breast and a journey that has taken her into a foreign land. She is technically still a newlywed and being led by a man who was visited by an angel. In modern language, she most assuredly dangling without a net. The holy threesome has listened to God and removed themselves from all that is familiar, comforting, and logical—casting themselves to the Wind.

This was to be the vocation, the particular charism of this family. Constantly forging paths in uncharted territory, God proved He could provide what no family or community could. Mary knew to store her consolations for later, and this was lifeline enough for a woman constantly open to the will of God. Her life would wend its way through experiences that would then throw lifelines to her vast progeny who were also given to her in a unique way.

What did Mary store in her heart? How did it sustain her in quieter years and in darker times? What lessons sustained her so that she could walk to Calvary and beyond in the hour God ordained to offer His children salvation?

God is Faithful to His Promises

At the hour of the annunciation, Mary’s answer called to mind all that God had promised His chosen people. Even as our first parents were being cast in shame from the Garden for their disobedience, God promised He would send a savior. Even as the waters raged about the ark, God promised that He would remain with His chosen people despite their transgressions. Even as the soldiers pressed towards Moses and the Israelites in flight, God opened the waters to freedom, knowing that they would complain and flag in their faith soon enough. All the curious events surrounding the Nativity of the Christ-Child led to the fulfillment of remarkable prophecies and revealed that God indeed could work wonders with the most humble of people and circumstances.

Mary grew up on the Scriptures and had committed them to memory. She and Joseph were nourished on the Word of God and clung to the promise of a Savior. All that Mary had memorized came rushing back to her when the angel came upon her; seeing God’s plan come to fruition in her own small life must have taken her breath away.

God’s Generosity Knows No Bounds

For many quiet years, during her sojourn into Egypt and afterwards, Mary pondered the visit of the Magi. From the ends of the earth they had come, having been drawn by the miracle in the heavens. Bearing costly gifts, they prostrated themselves despite their own remarkable estate and showed her that God could not contain the Good News. While He set apart the Hebrew race as bearers of the Law, even the Jewish prophets had revealed that the Messiah would be more than they could imagine.

The Light of the world could not be hidden from the other nations, nor did He wish to contain His love. All peoples are in the image and likeness of the Creator and one day all would be told of the remarkable story of God made flesh and a narrow road to Infinite Bliss. The path was optional and the gift was not for the deserving. All human wisdom just needed to be turned on its head in order to embrace God, but everyone was invited now that the Child had been born. Who could reject such a tiny lump of flesh when the mother beckoned for all to come near?

Things Are Not As they Appear

There are earthly realities and then there are the heavenly realities. On an ordinary night while stranded in Bethlehem, Mary’s world was lit by a supernatural star, visited by shepherds far out of their element, and regaled by a choir of angels never seen before or since. If that didn’t give her enough to think about for years to come, nothing would. God’s gift that night was to lift a small portion of the veil between this world and the next, for heaven’s delight couldn’t help but to spill over into our small world. The birth of each child has its memories that become immersed in family lore, but what compares to the stories surrounding the birth of God’s own son?

God, Who hung the stars of night, outdid Himself in decorating the heavens for His Son. Like any proud Father, His handiwork shouted to everyone far and near of the blessed event. Shepherds, who live in isolation in a world of grime and monotony, found themselves drawn to the One Who would cleanse them of all sin and shake the meaning of life to its foundation. They offered simple words and shy glances to the Shepherd of souls and His lovely mother. The angels delighted, not only in the Child, but in being seen in a rare moment by those they always accompany on their invisible mission. If men only knew, they must have thought, that we are with you always—guardians constantly on watch over God’s beloved children.

Learning From Mary

So what does Mary teach us as we part from the wonder of Christmas and embark on this journey of ordinary time? Nothing in God’s scheme is wasted, and her lessons are our lessons. As women, we put them into practice in the same feminine way that Mary did within our little realms of love and life.

God has promised us many things. He has told us countless times that He will provide the graces necessary—not only to our state in life—but also for each event in that life. This means that He will provide spiritually and materially for our needs if we turn to him. I have heard of deathbed conversions, life-threatening illnesses that united families, severe disappointments that turned people on radically different but fulfilling paths, and reunions in Christ when some were thought lost to the faith forever. Prayers can be answered in remarkable ways that people never imagined, and the key is to refuse to despair.

Hope is a supernatural virtue and needs grace to feed it constantly. If God can lift dry bones and give them life, if He can rain manna down in the desert wilderness, and if He can restore Lazarus to his sisters, He is the God of the living. He wants to breathe life into the souls of our loved ones more than we know—and He wants us to pray as ones Who believe His promises. We must pray as ones who know our prayers are already answered.

Love Spilling Over

Sometimes we can draw the blinds and hunker down. We can close off our little circle of family and friends and consider ourselves too busy for more. This is not God’s will and not what Mary did at any point in her life. Reflecting the generosity of God, Mary welcomed everyone, from the stable to the wedding feast, to Calvary. Her family circle was never closed—from the treasured moments to the most humiliating of occasions. Her life was a book for us to ponder and her definition of family was all-inclusive.

Christ emphasized this from the cross, with one of His lessons—spoken at great physical cost—being to embrace the motherhood of Mary. We accept her as mother, and like good daughters we model our motherhood on hers. We, too, must share what is appropriate in order to edify others and open our family circles when necessary to mother anyone in need.

Many, many women have mothered me, I am privileged to say, and the world is thirsting for more. Rather than casting aspersions on those who may not have lived up to their motherly responsibilities, we must beg for the wisdom to provide what is necessary in order to bring life and love to those who have been neglected. This can be a kind word, a piece of advice, a caring shoulder, a quiet presence laden with support. Prayer will show us where to be and what to do. Mary opened her motherly heart to the world and so must we.

Seeing With the Eyes of God

There is an interesting music video being played these days, which takes place on a vintage boardwalk with a collection of forlorn people. Each seems to be in the middle of a crisis and is visited by a passing photographer. This man takes a picture of each person or small group and a few moments pass as they wait for the film to develop. To the careful observer, beyond the words of the song, each picture comes into focus with the crisis resolved. There is joy on each face as he or she is presented with a picture showing that a happy ending is possible, despite the trying circumstances.

As nice as this video is to imagine, we can take it further. What we need to do with our motherly instincts and Marian love is to see what potential each soul carries within it. We can draw out the good in a given situation or person that others may not even see, even within themselves. This is part of what I think our Holy Father means by the “feminine genius.”

There is more than meets the eye, and we have to avoid the temptation to accept only what is visible at a particular moment. Drawing on our own prior failures, on the graces we know are available in the sacraments, on the remarkable stories we’ve been told, we can lift the veil to make God’s will manifest. Especially using the loving eyes of a mother to see what the child within wants to become, we can join with Our Lady to see that wine is drawn from cisterns filled with most ordinary water.

After a very short time, the choirs of angels departed, the shepherds returned to the fields, and the star returned to its normal size. Mary treasured the remarkable events while they lasted, and then stored them for safekeeping as life resumed its customary path. The gaze of the Child—remarkable and unique as any infant’s to his own mother—was a sleepy gaze and he nestled closer and dozed.

Mary had beheld something more, and we must treasure it with her. It is enough for us to know what lies beneath appearances. God is true, He is generous, and there is more. We must live that quietly, but courageously, until the angels appear once more. Our hearts are made for Him, and they are big enough to carry these moments for the benefit of all.