Daily Reflections- August 22, 2012

IS Mary a Queen?

 

I have been asked many times whether the Queenship of Mary, or the title Queen, has a biblical basis. The Bible is completely silent about Mary’s last years on Earth, her Assumption and being crowned as Queen. The only biblical basis we find is what Elizabeth said when she greeted her as “the mother of my Lord.”

Ancient Israel had no queens. Kings often had many wives but no one was considered as his queen. He might have had his favorite but he did not give her an official title. Only foreign female leaders were called queens. At the royal court of Judah, however, there was an official female rank, the “gebirah” or Great Lady. The gebirah was second only to the king in power and authority. She even sat at the king’s right hand, and the king would stand up when she entered a room.

When the king chose from the many sons of his many wives the one who would succeed him, the mother of the new crown prince became the Great Lady, the gebirah. As soon as the crown prince ascended the throne and became king, the Great Lady could be called “the mother of my Lord.” If she outlived her son, she would remain the Great Lady until her death.

This is the background for Elizabeth’s exclamation calling her cousin “the mother of my Lord.” She recognized Mary as mother of the future Messiah-king, and quite logically, she gives Mary the royal title to which, as queen mother, she is entitled — that of gebirah or “Mother of my Lord.” And indeed, as the mother of the King of kings, Mary is more truly a queen than any other woman in human history.

The Gospel also tells us what kind of queen Mary is: She is a queen who serves. For three months she served her cousin. For the next three months Mary fetched water from the village well, washed the floor, did the laundry, and cooked the meals.

 

And she, the gebirah, the Great Lady, the mother of the Lord, continues to serve us day after day with her maternal intercession. Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD

 

REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you proud of your status, degree or position? Or do you have the humility of Mary?

 

Lord, thank You for giving us Your Mother as our powerful protector and intercessor. May I learn from her to serve in humility my fellowmen.