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Quote by Jane Williams

“Zechariah asks for proof... Mary, on the other hand, points out the obstacles of the angel's plan - she is a virgin - but she asks nothing else... Mary simply says: 'Here I am, the servant of the Lord', ' yes, I will do this.' Later generations of Christians went on to justify God's choice of Mary by investing her with a miraculous childhood and holy parents, making her worthy in ways that we can understand. But that seems to undermine the point that Luke helps us to see: Zechariah was 'worthy,' in all outward forms, but he muffed it. Mary is simply willing. The Magnificat is Mary's theology: what God sees in her is precisely her 'lowliness', which gives her insight into the character of God, whose mercy 'scatters the proud', 'brings down the powerful', so that the hungry can be filled. God's mercy makes space for those who are thought to be of no account, and Mary knows herself to be one of them.”

Quote by Jane Williams

Work

The Merciful Humility of God: The 2019 Lent Book

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Author

Jane Williams

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“As Jesus dies, the world order changes for ever, by the act of God... Jesus accepts the world's judgement, and that puts an end to it. We have judged God, assuming in our arrogance and fear that we had that power. Now we wait, trembling, to see what the new order looks like, when we realize that the one we have crucified is the measure, the judge, the standard. We have done everything we can think of, and our resources are exhausted. The humble God has relentlessly absorbed all our cruelty, violence, hopelessness, selfishness and fear, never returning like for like, but carrying it away with him into death. All that is left now is the action of God.”

“Stillness, which is the basis of the soul's purification, makes the observance of the commandments relatively painless. 'Flee,' it has been said, 'keep silence, be still, for herein lie the roots of sinlessness.' Again it has been said: 'Flee men and you will be saved.' For human society does not permit the intellect to perceive either its own faults or the wiles of the demons, so as to guard itself against them. Nor, on the other hand, does it allow the intellect to perceive God's providence and bounty, so as to acquire in this way knowledge of God and humility.”