Lynne Modranski

Advent Through the Eyes of Mary Lynne Modranski

I have speculated for years on the means by which Luke presented such a detailed account of the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. As I consider every scenario, the only one that makes sense is that Luke interviewed the 60-70 something Mary recording for us her view of God coming to earth. Each week you'll find seven readings, one for each day of the week, contemplating what Mary may have felt, seen, known, dreamt and believed. While each of these feelings and dreams are merely speculations of what might have happened, I pray that each will give you a new insight into the story of the birth of Christ. Whether you light a candle on a wreath or just use the readings in your devotional time it's entirely up to you. Often the reading may refer to "evening," but the time of day isn't important either. What is vital is that we use these four weeks to prepare, much like Mary would have prepared, to celebrate the birth of the Savior of the World. After all, by the time Luke came on the scene, Joseph, Mary's husband, as well as John and his parents were gone. The gospel writer doesn't give any indication that he'd met any of Jesus' family prior to doing his research for the great Theophilus. And while there may have been other priests and remnants of the family who knew bits and pieces of the story, it's likely that Mary was the only one with all the details. So for this Advent we are going to look at the season through the eyes of Mary. We'll look at Luke's account as if we were there listening to the mother of Jesus tell her story. We will explore the scripture that Mary may have known, verses that probably startled her as she prepared for her Son to be born, and we will look at all of the beautiful things that this woman, chosen by God, "pondered in her heart."