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According to Dr. Cohick, Mary’s identity in the Gospels centers around three primary roles: mother, prophet, and disciple. Which of these elements tend to get left out, why is that, and what difference does it make?
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I think that the roles of prophet and disciple tend to be left out. In venerating her (which the Catholics do), we tend to forget that she was also human and she had to learn to be a disciple of God too. We also forget that in the Magnificat Mary was able to say many things about the future under the inspiration of God.
#women
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Mary’s role highlights the attributes of women who followed Jesus Christ. Mary was a mother, but also a disciple, she would have been an important leader in the formation of Christianity. This shifts the focus onto the importance of women in sharing the Gospel message and their importance in sharing the message of Jesus Christ.
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I think Mary’s role as a prophet mainly gets left out. I can’t say I’ve ever thought of her that way before this session. I think emphasizing Mary’s role as a mother is a beautiful thing. However, limiting her to just this role and not exploring her role as a prophet and a disciple, falsely portrays her as somewhat one dimensional.
Because Mary has been used as a role model for following generations of women, this incomplete perception of her can be used to restrict and limit the role of women in the church, perhaps hindering women from serving the fullness of their calling.
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I think Mary as a prophet is usually left out. I have never heard of Mary being referred in a prophetic way and to some degree she is not so much recognized as a disciple. The focus that I am familiar with is, “Mary, the Mother of Jesus”. She is more often “mother” of our Lord. I suspect that this is because she lived in a very patriachal society and to some extend that patriarchy is still with us today. By leaving out the elements of prophet and disciple, Mary is shown a very submissive (for lack of a better word) role and not as a woman who has knowledge of the old testament scripture or as a follower of Jesus.
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Over the centuries there has been such an overemphasis on Mary, the mother, that I actually think that there are two elements of her character that should be mentioned even more—her as a prophet and as a disciple. She had to navigate all three at such a young age but she did it with grace and honor to her Lord.