Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons^™

"But Mary Was Preserving These Matters, Carefully Bringing Together And Considering Them In Her Heart”: Ethical Listening, Contemplation, And The Cultivation Of A Sexuating Silence, Julie Kelso

Julie Kelso

Twice in Luke's gospel, and only ever in Luke's gospel, we are presented with the curious response of Mary to mysterious events concerning her son: "but Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Lk 2:19) and "but his mother kept all these things in her heart" (Lk 2:52). We are never told exactly what Mary makes of these things she witnesses and hears. Her silence extends to us here, in the present, from this distant past. And indeed, this is quite a different response to that which she earlier gives her cousin Elizabeth, when she bursts into …