Issue 44 May 2026

Mother's Day reflection

Moving the heart of God like St Mary

Shery Abdelmalak

If you were to ask a Coptic Christian what St Mary meant to them, they're likely to have a story for you. When I was younger I was always told that St Mary roams the earth, collecting prayers and making intercessions for her children all around the world. Her work on earth is endless. Her compassion is second to none and moves the hand of God to action on our behalf.

There is something very special about St Mary that I still don't fully understand. St Mary isn't waiting for us to ask for her help. She is roaming the earth looking for the broken, the lonely, those in despair, those in sorrow, and praying for those who don't even know where to start. Lucky are the ones who go straight to her, but for those who don't, St Mary fights for you too. I want to say she fights for you even more.

It was for her sake that Jesus' first miracle took place, during the wedding at Cana of Galilee. When the wine ran out at the wedding, St Mary immediately went to Jesus, with faith that He could fix everything. He responded, "Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come" (John 2:4). Jesus' time was yet to come because those in need did not request His help; rather, His mother approached Him on their behalf.

The wedding at Cana was the perfect example of St Mary taking on her role as mother of us all. St Mary was the one who came to Jesus, not those in need. The beauty of a mother is in that silent observation, the earnest and heartfelt prayers, and the swift action to save her children from brokenness. She did not want the bridegroom to suffer shame for running out of wine, and sought to preserve their joy. We have often heard that God lends His ears to the prayers of a mother, and this was proof that He listened to His. This is an example of why we plead for the intercessions of St Mary. Her intercessions are felt widely, and she continues to have compassion on the nations of the undeserving, and pleads for us accordingly.

Her intercessions are also the reason we call her "the gate of heaven." St Mary was the gate by which Christ entered the world and, in turn, gave us life. In the same way, her intercession continues to be the gate of salvation, and so we honour her and strive to imitate her motherly example.

Read the full reflection at stmark.com.au.

From the pulpit

The Samaritan woman

Ragy Abraham · John 4

If you know me at all, you know I am not very creative. My imagination is very linear, so I like problems with a defined, absolute solution. I don't do well with open-form problems. I have always envied people with a natural inclination for creativity. A perfect example of that is Fr Mark. So many times, when we would have a problem at church, the solutions he would come up with would leave me thinking, "How did you come up with that?" I don't have that at all.

Because of this limitation, I often find myself wishing Christianity, too, had a recipe. And I think, actually, this Gospel is that recipe. In it, Christ's personality is so clearly revealed to us, and we find a formula for encountering Him.

He is not of this world

One of the first things that stands out when we read this Gospel is the woman's utter shock that Jesus, a Jewish man, is speaking with her. For Jesus, social conventions do not apply: He is not of this world. Jews despised Samaritans and considered them outsiders, which is why Jesus later used the parable of the Good Samaritan to challenge the ideas of the time by making a "despised" Samaritan the hero who shows mercy.

We also read this Gospel with modern eyes, so the gravity of what Christ did can sometimes be lost on us. In the first century, a Jewish rabbi speaking publicly to a woman, let alone a Samaritan woman of ill repute, was scandalous. Christ shattered the societal norms of His day to restore the dignity of this woman. If we want to truly meet Christ and have an encounter with Him, we too cannot simply follow the world.

He meets us at noon

This woman came to the well at the sixth hour, at noon, in the extreme heat of the day. Yes, she came physically exhausted, but she also came at the height of her shame, hiding from everyone. Yet Christ found her there. Christ meets us in our shame and in our lowest moments: when we feel isolated, burnt out, or as though we have to hide our struggles from the world. Jesus intentionally showed up at the "hottest" moment of her shame. He does not wait for us to become cool and collected. He meets us in the messiest "noon" moments of our lives. There is no reason to dress ourselves up before coming to Him.

We are called to act

After this brief encounter with Christ, do we think she was ever the same again? Of course not. She tasted the living water and left her old life behind. We too must come to Jesus prepared to be transformed, prepared to leave our old selves behind, just as Zacchaeus, Mary Magdalene and Saul did after encountering Christ.

And that transformation provokes a reaction within us. Christianity is not a theoretical framework. We are not called simply to believe; we are called to act. Our faith cannot remain just words: it must become action. Once we have encountered Christ and tasted His love, He expects us to respond.

The Samaritan woman originally came to the well at noon to avoid interaction with others, but after meeting Christ, none of that mattered anymore. What people thought of her no longer mattered. In that moment, only Jesus mattered. Often, following Christ will be difficult. He will ask difficult things of us, but it is in those moments that we prove our love for Him.

Once you come into contact with Jesus, you cannot keep it in. Like the Samaritan woman, you leave your pots behind and want to tell the world. We are called to give Christ to the world and allow others to have the same life-changing experience we have had. As the people later proclaimed in the Gospel: "Now we believe, not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world."

The Church, in her wisdom, places this Gospel during the Holy Fifty Days to remind us of the power of the Resurrection. This is a season in which we can truly expect to encounter Christ. Lent has prepared us for this period of joy and triumph, and our hearts are ready for Him.

In today's Gospel, we find one of the clearest formulas for coming to experience Christ in a way that changes us forever. As we approach the Eucharist, may our prayer be:

Glory be to God forever.

A further note: If you are wondering why we read the Gospel of the Samaritan woman so close together in Lent and the Fifty Days, it is to highlight different themes. During Lent we focus on repentance as the key message of that Gospel. During the Fifty Days, we turn our focus to receiving the living water in preparation for receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Notices

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