Verse 1
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would save our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your Baby Boy has come to make you new?
This Child that you’d deliver will soon deliver you.
Some people say, “Of course it was easy for her.” That is . . .
She had a baby with no physical or mental limitations.
It would be easy to raise a child who was perfect . . . i.e. not in trouble at school
or one messed up with drugs or alcohol.
Her husband had a job,
which meant she didn’t have to worry about money coming in to pay bills.
She had supportive relatives
(i.e. her cousin Elizabeth who we heard about in the gospel). It’s easy when your relatives aren’t giving you a hassle and they accept your choices.
And an angel appeared . . . so “no problem” believing in God. Why can’t angels
appear to all of us and tell us what to do with our lives?
She was able to conceive a child when so many cannot conceive
or she didn’t have to face the heartache of a miss-carriage.
Mary had friends (i.e. she got invited to a wedding),
some of us feel we don’t have any close friends.
And then she is forever depicted in paintings and sculpture as young and beautiful
. .. no wrinkles
. . . no huge thighs
. . . no hair falling out
. . . no bad complexion
I’d like to see Mary with a “bad hair” day
Or with that frazzled look of trying to be “Super Mom.”
Or with a frown when her husband said another embarrassing comment in public.
Or with a skin color that reflected her real nationality,
because she was not white, she was Middle Eastern.
[Sing verse 2]
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy will give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy will calm the storm with His hand?
Did you know that your Baby Boy has walked where angels trod?
When you kiss your little Baby you kissed the face of God?
Of course, Mary had her own struggles:
. . . being pregnant before she was married (which would mean being thrown out and
probably killed by stoning)
. . . enduring the death of her spouse
. . . people gossiping about her son and actually despising him.
. . . losing a child through death.
Yet through all this, Mary is recognized as the best example of a Christian. Because through all problems, she trusted God. She let go of her own worries about being in control or fearing what others would think of her.
She did, as we all are invited to do with each struggle or challenge in our lives . . .
to trust. To trust in the mystery of God. And to trust that God has great things in store for us, as Mary trusted God.
For when your life feels like you don’t know how it is going to turn out, or you feel foolish or weak, remember the words of St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:27
“God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.
God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”
[Sing verse 3]
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that your Baby Boy would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your Baby Boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?
The sleeping Child you're holding is the Great, I Am.