Mary, woman of faith and displaced person: insights for Catholic schools

McKinney, S. J. (2021) Mary, woman of faith and displaced person: insights for Catholic schools. Journal of Religious Education, 69(3), pp. 411-421. (doi: 10.1007/s40839-021-00156-4)

Abstract

Catholic schools share in the preferential option for the poor that is an essential part of following Jesus and the mission of the Church. Catholic schools in many parts of the world have an historical and contemporary mission for the care and education of the poor. This article uses key passages from the Gospels of Luke and Matthew to illustrate that Mary can be understood as an exemplar of God’s preferential option for the poor. Mary is presented as a young and poor Jewish woman of faith in the Annunciation and the Magnificat in Luke’s Gospel and is presented as an externally displaced person in flight into Egypt in Matthew’s Gospel. The paper also examines the journey to Bethlehem in Luke’s Gospel as interpreted by Pope Francis. He interprets this as Mary being an internally displaced person. Adopting these distinctive modes of interpretation, Mary can be recognised as a model of the preferential option for the poor for Catholic schools.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: McKinney, Professor Stephen
• Authors: McKinney, S. J.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education; College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Pedagogy, Praxis & Faith
• Journal Name: Journal of Religious Education
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 1442-018X
• ISSN (Online): 2199-4625
• Published Online: 15 October 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Author
• First Published: First published in Journal of Religious Education 69(3): 411-421
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons Licence