Reflections on Mary

When listening to the Christmas story I have always identified most with Mary (because she is the girl in the story I guess). Last year, when I was pregnant, I could imagine a little bit of what it felt like to be Mary and carrying a baby although I wasn't very pregnant at Christmas last year. This year I really identified with Mary. I could imagine her with a tiny baby. I sang Away in a Manger to my baby. I thought about what it was like to be a young mother and having a baby and caring for a newborn in an animal's stall. At first as I was making the parallels I thought "well at least I don't have the added pressure of having God's son". Then it hit me--in a way I am caring for God's son. He's not fully God and fully man (there's the extra pressure) but he is God's child that God has entrusted to me to take care of on Earth but he is still God's son and God is in control. I just need to love him as God would. The thought made me emotional and sympathetic of Mary.