In the hours after Jesus’s birth Mary is doubtless tired and somewhat confused, far from the comfort of family and friends other than Joseph. Shepherds burst into the place where the family is staying, bringing stories of angels singing praise to the Lord about a newborn in a manger. Does Mary send them away? Does she burst into tears? Nope. She honors their experience and the effort they have made to come to Bethlehem: “Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). The face of God was presented to Mary in both those situations, in one by an angel, in the other by uneducated people who had little in material goods and may not have owned even their own flocks. Yet she recognized the Lord in both, carefully listening to his messengers, indifferent to the form in which they came.
— from the book Blessed Are You: Finding Inspiration from Our Sisters in Faith by Melanie Rigney
