Our Broken Hallelujah

“Standing by the cross of Jesus was his mother…..”

As a mother, it’s hard not to see Good Friday from the broken heart of the mother of God, watching with horror as her son was mocked and beaten and crucified.

  The sin of Adam, which ushered in our suffering and death would be answered by Christ, the suffering Savior, whose kingdom is born in you, through the obedience and the quiet yes of a young girl from Nazareth.  It must have seemed like no time to her that the linens she wrapped her baby in became his grave clothes.  And just like Mary, the shroud that covered you in your dying with Him will become the swaddling clothes with which you offer your love, incarnate, to the world.

The yes cry of the mother of God would break her heart into a thousand pieces.  Mary, who gave birth in agony, who nursed Christ at her breast and followed His path until it lead Him to the cross, where she saw him beaten beyond recognition, the one who cared for His crucified body when He died, then suffered the unthinkable loss of both her sons so that the kingdom of God might be born in us all.  Mary’s fiat, her “Let it be to me as you have said,”  becomes our anthem too, our broken hallelujah poured out on a world dying for redemption.

This gift, this Christ child, growing in you will break your heart and yet, it will be the means of your healing. It will wreck you and then be the very path to your of your salvation.  His body broken will become the bread at His table, where He, Himself will be the pascal Lamb.  There, He will join His flesh to your flesh and you will enter into the mysteries of true communion with your Father.  There, He nourishes you so that you may rise up from the table, and feed His sheep.

You, my sisters and brothers, are the handmaiden of the Lord.  

Sing your broken hallelujah, loud and strong, that the kingdom of God might be born in the hearts of men.

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  We ponder the mysteries of His kingdom, the suffering that brings salvation, the death that brings life, the gift that grows in us—Christ, the hope of glory.  We remember that all along, it was His plan that His suffering would be the means of salvation for the whole world.  Perhaps the same is true with our own suffering.

May we have the courage of Mary, to stay and to behold The Lamb that takes away the sins of the world.

Mary, by Patty Griffin

Mary you’re covered in roses, you’re covered in ashes

You’re covered in rain

You’re covered in babies; you’re covered in slashes

You’re covered in wilderness; you’re covered in stains

You cast aside the sheet,

You cast aside the shroud

Of another man, who served the world proud

You greet another son; you lose another one

On some sunny day and always you stay, Mary

 

Jesus said, Mother I couldn’t stay another day longer

Flies right by and leaves a kiss upon her face

While the angels are singing His praises in a blaze of glory

Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place

 

Mary she moves behind me

She leaves her fingerprints everywhere

Every time the snow drifts, every way the sand shifts

Even when the night lifts, she’s always there

 

Jesus said Mother I couldn’t stay another day longer

Flies right by and leaves a kiss upon her face

While the angels are singing his praises in a blaze of glory

Mary stays behind and starts cleaning up the place

 

Mary

You’re covered in roses, you’re covered in ruin

Covered in secrets

You’re covered in treetops, covered in birds

Who can sing a million songs without any words

You cast aside the sheets; you cast aside the shroud

Of another man, who served the world proud

You greet another son; you lose another one

On some sunny day, and always you stay

Mary

 

 *This is taken from a talk I gave last year.  You can download it for free here.