Introduction

Bible story often feel both old and new. This happens because Bible stories often recall to mind ourselves, our wants, our relationships, and some of the most relevant questions we may ask.

In the Garden of Eden, for example, the first relationship between a man and a woman is not one of hierarchy or competition, but of mutual belonging. Two lives are drawn together in wonder and shared humanity.

When Adam sees the woman made from his own side, he doesn’t feel superior; instead, he feels recognition and joy: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” At that moment, The Book of Genesis shows not only the start of human relationships, but also the start of a deep truth: that man and woman are partners, made to be together, with dignity, and to take part in God’s plan as it unfolds.

The Church has thought about what this relationship means for hundreds of years, and in that thought, the figure of Mary—woman, disciple, believer, and mother—stands out in a way that is unique. She becomes not only the Mother of Jesus, but also a living witness to the call that God gives to all believers: to listen, respond, and let God’s grace change our lives.

The Context

This reflection is based on the work of theologian and Scripture scholar Francis J. Moloney, S.D.B., who looks at how the Bible shows women as partners in God’s work of salvation. From Genesis onward, women are not passive figures; they are active participants who are brave, faithful, and spiritually in tune with God’s call.

Genesis 2:18, 20–24 reminds us that “Woman” was made to be a “helper suited” to Man, which some people have misinterpreted. In fact, the Hebrew word for “helper,” means strength and partnership, not subordination. God does not create a servant or subordinate; instead, He creates a friend who stands with Adam in a relationship of mutual respect and shared dignity.

This idea of equality based on creation runs through the whole Bible. In fact:
Women are with God’s people at important turning points.
When God starts something new, women respond with bravery.
Women show that they can have faith, be open to God’s word, and trust it.
Mary is the main character in this story.

But the Mary we read about in the Bible can sometimes be hard to see because of religious images or layers of religious language that have built up over centuries. Moloney reminds us that Mary was a woman of faith before she became a prominent figure of theological reflection. In the Gospels, Mary appears as person who believes, someone whose path of faith, surrender, and discipleship speaks to everyone.

For this reason, rediscovering Mary means to rediscover ourselves.

For those nourished by the La Salette charism, which is a spirituality based on forgiveness, compassion, and attentive listening to God’s voice, Mary is also a mother who is with us as we go through our own experiences of faith, vulnerability, and change.

Reflection

Created for Relationship — The Shared Call of Woman and Man

The Genesis creation story portrays woman not as an afterthought, but as a sign of completion. God sees that “it is not good for man to be alone,” and responds by shaping human community at its most intimate level. The text highlights mutuality:

• They are “bone of the same bone and flesh of the same flesh.”
• Together they form “one body.”
• Their union reflects both unity and complementarity.

Far from framing woman as inferior, Scripture places her at the heart of God’s design for relationship, love, and covenant life.

Moloney emphasizes that the early biblical authors already recognized a radical equality between man and woman, an equality grounded not in social status or cultural power, but in their shared existence before God.¹

This truth forms the backdrop against which Mary of Nazareth emerges in the New Testament.

Mary in the New Testament: Woman, Disciple, Believer

The Gospel writers never present Mary as distant, unreachable, or abstract. Instead, they show her as a woman woven into the real fabric of life:

• She listens.
• She questions.
• She journeys.
• She remains faithful when the cost is great.

The early Christian communities knew Mary not only as “Mother of Jesus,” but also as a model of discipleship. Moloney notes that modern theological study increasingly recognizes that Mary’s first and most essential identity is this: she is a believer who responds wholeheartedly to God’s word.²

Her womanhood matters. Not because of idealized symbolism, but because her openness, courage, and trust reveal what faith looks like when lived fully in the human condition.

Mary’s story invites both women and men to identify with her interior journey characterized by her attentiveness to God’s initiative, her capacity for surrender, and her willingness to let faith reshape her life.

Jesus and Women: A Relationship Marked by Freedom and Compassion

Throughout the Gospels, Jesus’ encounters with women are strikingly counter-cultural. He moves beyond the social and religious constraints of His time, showing a freedom rooted not in rebellion but in compassion and truth.

Jesus allows Himself to touch and be touched by women of every background:

• He listens to the Syrophoenician woman and praises her faith.
• He heals the woman suffering from hemorrhages, calling her “daughter.”
• He restores Jairus’ daughter to life.

In each of these stories, especially as told by Mark, women stand at moments of revelation. Their faith and vulnerability become places where the Kingdom of God breaks through.³ As such, these stories are not marginal. They are central to the Gospel narrative. And they reveal that women are not merely observers in salvation history: on the contrary they are witnesses, participants, and bearers of faith.

Paul and the New Identity “In Christ”

St. Paul takes this vision further by rooting Christian identity not in social divisions but in belonging to Christ.

For Paul, to be Christian is to “put on Christ,” to live from a new reality shaped by grace. In this new life, traditional categories lose their power to divide. Yes because:

There is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female — all are one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:27–28).

Paul is not erasing difference. He is proclaiming unity grounded in baptismal dignity.

This unity invites us to imagine what the Church becomes when it honors the equal giftedness of women and men, when every baptized person is encouraged to respond fully to their vocation, charisms, and call to discipleship.⁴

Women in Matthew’s Gospel: Courage at Turning Points in Salvation History

Matthew does something unusual: he includes women in Jesus’ genealogy:

• Tamar
• Rahab
• Ruth
• Bathsheba

Each appears at a decisive moment in Israel’s history. Each acts with courage and initiative when God’s promise seems threatened.⁵

Matthew is telling us something important: women are not accidental figures in the story of salvation, but they are instruments of God’s providence, especially when history reaches a turning point. And this pattern culminates in Mary. She becomes the ultimate expression of this tradition, the one who freely opens her life to God’s action so that the Messiah may enter the world.⁶

Luke’s Gospel — Women at the Heart of Jesus’ Mission

Luke gives particular attention to women who accompany Jesus:

• Mary, who listens and treasures God’s word.
• Elizabeth, who recognizes the presence of the Spirit.
• Faithful women who follow Jesus in His public ministry.
• The bent-over woman healed in the synagogue, restored not only physically but spiritually.

Luke portrays Jesus as one who sees women, who honors their faith, heals their wounds, and affirms their place within God’s people. Their experiences become spaces where grace is revealed and new faith is born.⁸

John’s Gospel: Mary at the Heart of the Church’s Beginning

John’s Gospel brings this reflection to a beautiful and deeply theological conclusion.

At the foot of the Cross stand:

• Mary, Mother of Jesus
• The beloved disciple

In that moment, Jesus entrusts them to one another, forming a new spiritual family rooted in faith and discipleship.⁹

And Mary becomes:

• The first believer
• The model of trust
• The mother of the community of disciples

She is not distant or untouchable. She is a believer who walks the same path of surrender and faith that every disciple is called to follow. Through her witness, the early Church glimpses its own identity, a community founded not on power, but on trust, love, and receptive openness to God’s saving action.

Application

Mary challenges us not through perfection or detachment, but through the way she lives faith in the real world.

Her life invites us to ask:

• How do we listen for God’s voice in our own story?
• Where do we experience the call to trust when the cost feels great?
• How are women in our faith communities honored as disciples, leaders, and witnesses of faith?
• How does the Church become more fully itself when every baptized person (woman and man) is encouraged to live their vocation courageously?

The La Salette message of reconciliation deepens this invitation.

At La Salette, Mary appears as a mother who draws us toward conversion, compassion, and renewed relationship with God. She reminds us that faith is not an abstract ideal, and that it has to be lived in tears, in hope, in forgiveness, and in courage.

To walk with Mary is to walk the path of discipleship:

• attentive to God’s word
• open to transformation
• rooted in trust
• committed to love

And like the courageous women of Scripture, she shows us that when we allow God to act in our lives, grace enters history in ways that blesses the world.

Prayer

Invocation

Our Lady of La Salette, Reconciler of Sinners,
pray without ceasing for us who have recourse to you.

Questions for Reflection

• What attitudes or assumptions about women in the Church have shaped your experience of faith, positively or negatively?
• Where have you witnessed women as strong models of discipleship, leadership, or spiritual wisdom?
• How does Mary’s humanity (her faith, courage, questions, and perseverance) help you relate more deeply to her?
• What does Paul’s teaching,“you are all one in Christ Jesus”, invite us to consider about the future of the Church?
• What qualities in Mary’s life inspire you most as you seek to follow Christ?

If this reflection deepened your appreciation for Mary’s witness and the dignity of women in salvation history, we invite you to continue the journey next week, with a new segment of this series of blog-posts focused on the character of Mary.

Also, consider visiting the National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette or our La Salette Retreat Center for some days of prayer, for a pilgrimage, or for a retreat, and allow Mary, Woman of Faith and Reconciler of Sinners, to accompany your walk with Christ.

Footnotes

1. Francis J. Moloney, Woman: First Among the Faithful, Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, IN, 1986, pp. 14, 16.
2. Ibid., p. 17.
3. Ibid., p. 23; cf. Mark 5:24–43 (NJB).
4. Ibid., pp. 36–37, 41–42; cf. Galatians 3:27–28 (NJB).
5. Ibid., pp. 43–44, 46–47; cf. Matthew 1:1–17 (NJB).
6. Ibid., p. 47.
7. Ibid., pp. 50, 66.
8. Ibid., pp. 72–73; cf. Luke 13:10–17 (NJB).
9. Ibid., pp. 100–102; cf. John 19:25–27 (NJB).