We ask the reader to carefully understand what is about to be said. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, is the visible image of Sophia in a way similar to the way that Jesus is the visible image of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. The relationship is not the same, but has similarities. The Son of God took flesh unto himself and that union is called Jesus. In this union of God and man there is only one Person, that of the Son of God, but there are two natures, the divine and the human.
Mary, because of her Immaculate Conception, has become intimately one with Sophia, the Holy Spirit. Even though in this so-called ‘incarnation’ we have two persons and two natures (this is not the same as above), this union of Sophia with Mary was so perfect, so bonding that Mary and Sophia have become inseparable. They are one in love and functions. They both are birthing and nurturing. They both hold the same titles within the Church. Both are considered as giving birth to the Church, nurturing and forming it.
Scripture tells us that we are living in the age of Sophia, and the Church tells us that we are living in the age of Mary. Both are true, because both are the same. Both are preparing and working hard at preparing the Father’s children, their children, for the coming of their Son. Both are present in the world today, and Mary, who seems to be appearing all over the world at a rate unheard of in the history of the Church, is that visible presence of Sophia speaking to the world.
In the mystery of the incarnation, how did Mary conceive Jesus? Was the conception similar to artificial insemination? In no way! Artificial insemination is an impersonal act, an impersonal relationship. Our God is not impersonal. Our God is a loving Person, one who relates personally. Then, in some way the moment of conception had to be a loving embrace by God. By which person? By God the Father.
Since the child that Mary conceived was both God and man, Sophia, had to overshadow Mary, had to united herself with Mary in such a close and intimate way, that when the Father embraced Mary in that loving conceptual embrace he was also embracing his beloved Spouse, Sophia. The child, therefore, that was conceived at that most ecstatic embrace of love was then able to be both God and Man. This precious moment welded Sophia and Mary together in a most mysterious way, even greater than the uniting of themselves at the moment of Mary’s Immaculate Conception.
Oh what a wonderful mystery! They are one and yet are still two individual persons. Mary has in a most mysterious way become part of the Trinity. She is the Queen of Heaven as the Church has called her for centuries, but she shares that queen ship with Sophia, who is The Queen of Heaven. Mary is the visible image of that Queen ship. Mary is the visible image of the Motherhood and Womanhood of God that resides in Sophia, the Holy Spirit. Mary is the visible image of the importance of Womanhood in God and in all of creation, even in the Church. They are truly the power behind the throne. Without them there would be no throne.
Knowing and understanding this relationship between the two is very important for our world today. In order for us to grow in our relationships as men and women, in this world and in the Church, we need to see and know and experience how our Heavenly Father, the Son of God/Jesus, and Holy Spirit/Sophia/Mary relate to each other and share with each other.
How does the love within them flow back and forth creating such harmony and unity between them? Such experiential knowledge, for example, will bring healing to a woman’s hurt from abusive men, to Sophia’s hurt from abusive clergymen, because such abusiveness flows from a man’s fear of losing control in his relationship with a woman, and with the clergyman’s fear of losing control of the church through his relationship with Sophia.
Fear has become dominant within our human and divine relationships rather than love. Faithfulness and obedience has been emphasized more than a loving abandonment of self to the other. Our world today needs faithfulness and obedience, but it also needs far more the divine love, a love that is not afraid of self and others. Without love being primary, faithfulness and obedience renders us cold and harsh in our relationships with others, even with God.