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MARY:
Seat of Wisdom, Mother of the House
We continue our short journey through the characteristics of Mary. Today we are looking at her wisdom and her simplicity.
Photo: particular of the Holy House of Loreto.
Mary in the kitchen
For wisdom is more mobile than any motion (cf. Wis 7:24).
Surely there was a hurry when Google didn’t help with a multitude of recipes and when the oven, fridge and dishwasher were not part of the kitchen standard. But Mary’s wisdom did not lie only in knowing how to get by without the tools and aids we know today. She cooked for God himself. Breakfast, lunch, dinner. She probably cooked for the whole “band” of Jesus who often visited him. A continuous broadening of the heart to the preferences and tastes of others.
And wat about us? How many times does the ability to move smoothly between the various needs of the people we live with or we invite to our home become the basis of the meeting?
Wisdom comes into its own when that encounter manages to transform itself into an opportunity for dialogue in which the different enriches and does not disturb.
Mary in the living room
In wisdom (and therefore also in Mary) there is an intelligent spirit, a lover of good, subtle, free, without worries, stable, beneficial (cf. Wis 7:22-23).
Mary’s welcome certainly had a special characteristic… When welcoming others, it is very “easy” to stay in the kitchen, among the pots, anxious that EVERYTHING COULD BE GOOD. But it also takes the part of the living room, the space in which you perceive the stability, benevolence and subtlety, the RELAX of who you host. It is important to know how to cook and organize everything. But it is also important to listen and contribute to the meeting.
And what about us? How many times is that balance between doing and staying difficult to achieve?
Wisdom comes into its own when we manage to get out of our kitchens to be with those who need our ear or a look of attention.
Mary in the most intimate spaces of the house, when she takes care of those who are not well
Wisdom compared to light is superior; to this, in fact, the night happens, but against the wisdom the evil cannot prevail (cf. Wis 7:29-30).
Knowing how to be next to people hiding in the darkest corners of your home is not easy. There are the abysses that one cannot tell about… And Mary also knew these abysses from her own experience. Knowing her to keep things in her heart revealed her wisdom – which could not be prevailed by any wickedness.
And what about us? Maybe we have to learn from her? The ability to guard ourselves when the abysses seem to envelop us and the ability to guard the people closest to us when their abysses do not allow them to come to light…
