This special episode of the saints is about the life of the holy mother of god,
The virgin mary.
And it's being shown on easter,
The most blessed day in the christian calendar.
I was born in the 1940s and I grew up in little Italy in new york.
It was a different time in a different world,
And for everyone in that world,
Easter was the most sacred holiday of the year.
Christmas was different,
More of a secular holiday,
Less a celebration of the
Birth of jesus than a kind of magical
Children's day with santa claus and presents everywhere.
But easter weekend.
That was something else.
It started on good Friday in the depths of suffering,
Defeat, and darkness
When all the ornamentation would be removed from the altar
And everything was covered in purple cloth.
And then on Sunday
And ended in a grand triumph with the resurrection
And the redemption of humanity.
The story of jesus, his life, his teachings, his example.
His death
His resurrection
Is intertwined with the life of his mother.
She was chosen by god.
She was a vessel
And she was a mother who loved her son.
We tried our best to do justice to the life of mary,
The mother of jesus,
In this very special easter episode
Of the saints.
She came into this world
Without original sin.
This was the immaculate conception.
She moved with self-confidence,
Wrote the austrian poet rainer maria rilke.
Showing that human beings are dwarfed by devotion in one single heart.
Please
Joseph,
What do you have to offer to this woman,
Mary?
I give her this coin
As a token of our union.
You are hereby consecrated unto me according to the laws.
Of moses and israel.
You will live apart for one year from now,
And then you will be wed.
May the lord bless you both
And bless your union.
Amen.
She was chosen
Visited by a force.
A presence
An angel
After she started to show
Mary could not risk the shame of her husband to be
Or the shame of her mother and father.
So she went to stay in a distant village with her cousin.
Elizabeth
My beloved cousin.
Come into this house.
What is it?
But you and joseph haven't entered into marriage.
My cousin, uh, don't judge me.
I was visited.
Visited
It came as a ray of light,
And then I heard a voice.
I was so afraid
So afraid
But then I knew
The angel came to zechariah
And told him
We could conceive a child.
At my age.
Praise god
He's kicking
For joy.
Blessed are you among women,
My cousin, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.
I wish you would speak.
I have no words.
I have no way of proving myself.
I can only tell you what happened to me.
The holy spirit filled me,
You said.
Look into the eyes of your bride-to be.
I'm begging you
Can you say that I'm telling you a lie?
Wouldn't you see it in my eyes?
I know you're not lying.
But I can't believe you.
I don't understand
You said that you know I'm not lying.
I didn't say that you were lying. I won't say it now. I will never say it.
But I have no way of believing.
It defies belief.
They say
That no one is without sin.
I'm sure that I'm not sinless.
I can't be, but this sin I have not committed.
What will become of me? What will become of me?
My life is at an end.
Was this the work of evil?
I know that I would live
To see the lord's goodness in this present life.
Trust in the lord.
Have faith, do not despair.
Trust in the lord.
The angel came to joseph.
This man born into the house of david.
Accepted the role in life that god had given him.
The role that no man could ever have envisioned for himself.
What's happened?
My time has come.
There was a proclamation from rome
That all citizens of the empire
Had to return to their birthplace
To register for the census.
So joseph and mary
Had to travel all the way to bethlehem.
Excuse me, sir.
Sir,
My wife's time has come. Do you have any room? No.
Excuse me,
Sir.
You have a room. I have nothing.
My wife's time has come. Do you have a room for us? I'm sorry, my friend. Please, we need a room. No, sir.
We'll put them in the stable.
The baby is coming.
Help me.
Here,
Let's go.
Here,
Here, squat.
Mauria
But
Bush
To give birth to this child.
To know that she had been chosen.
And of all the people in this world.
Her world
And the great world that stretched all the way to rome and beyond.
To be her
Your majesty.
Your majesty,
Sorry.
Sorry, your majesty. They're coming.
Thank you for receiving us, o great king herod.
Please accept our gifts from his majesty
Fritis the 5th,
Supreme ruler of the kingdom of parthia.
You've come a long way.
By great seas,
Over high mountains and through vast deserts we've come to judea.
You have a message to me from king phatis.
We're here to pay tribute to a miraculous child born in judea.
An infant king, some say.
Infant king?
My son is 20 years of age.
A messiah.
The messiah of the jews.
Please accept our homage to you,
Great king herod.
Who is this miraculous child?
Where is he?
I would like to pay homage to this child.
We have yet to find him, your majesty.
See that you do.
And when you do,
Come tell me where he is.
You may take your leave.
Who is this child?
Where is this child?
Perhaps the child was born in bethlehem.
Bethlehem, why do you say that?
The prophet micah foretold the birth of the messiah
In bethlehem.
Find him.
According to jewish tradition,
Jesus was circumcised by his father
At 8 days old.
She stavi sivu ala mila.
Why didn't you tell king herod about the new star?
Did you believe he wanted to pay homage to this child?
No.
We must find this child quickly.
Another day's traveling
Yes.
For these few days and nights.
This little stable
Was the center of the world.
This
Is a gift to the world.
How did you come to us? The star guided us.
The new star.
My friend,
We have something to tell you.
On our journey here, we paid our respects to your king herod. He told us
He meant to pay homage to this child.
We believe he means to do him harm.
Herod
I regret that we greeted him,
But of course we were obliged to.
You should leave bethlehem.
You will go to jerusalem when my wife is able for her purification.
You must stay away from jerusalem.
It's dangerous.
Every male child in bethlehem
Under the age of 2.
Was slaughtered by herod's men.
Yeah
I, miriam, daughter of hannah,
Have completed the days of my purification.
According to the torah,
I brought these birds as my purification offering.
One for a burnt offering
And one for a sin offering.
So that I may be clean before the lord.
You can now let this faithful servant go in peace.
Now that I have seen the salvation.
That you have prepared.
For all people on this earth to see.
A light
Of revelation for the gentiles.
A light of glory for the people of israel.
No.
This child
Is destined to teach us all.
Of the failures in the hearts
Of many people in israel.
And he'll bring the resurgence of just as many.
He will be misunderstood.
You'll be contradicted.
Hm.
And this
Will cause you great pain and sorrow.
It will cut through you like a knife.
The rejection of this boy when he is a man.
Will force a greater honesty.
We will see god's truth
About every heart
Among us.
We must leave jerusalem.
The word will spread like wildfire
At daybreak. No, no, now.
The child that herod wanted dead
Was on his way to egypt.
Joseph. Yes,
I'm thirsty.
When joseph and mary returned after herod's death,
They settled with their son jesus in nazareth
In the land of israel.
Jesus.
Do you remember that the festival of passover
Is just one month away?
Yes, father.
We will slaughter the pascal lamb together in the temple.
Yes
We're leaving in 6 days.
I am the god of your father.
The god of abraham, the god of isaac,
And the god of jacob said god to moses.
And what did moses do?
He hid his face away.
Why?
Why do you think he hid his face?
Because to look at the face of god
Is to claim an understanding of god.
God is felt, not seen.
Felt from within
Yes,
Why did moses look away from god?
But still listen to god.
Why didn't he cover his ears?
Because the ear penetrates.
And resounds within
I'll find an answer.
Back to the work before you.
How will you know that the angle is true?
Yes.
It's true.
After we finished
We'll talk through jonah.
Yes.
Mother
How did you know I was here?
I always know when you're there.
There were 3 great yearly religious festivals.
Shabaott or pentecost suco.
Or the feast of the tabernacles.
And pack
Which we call passover.
Pilgrims from all over israel
Would ascend to jerusalem to go to the temple.
After 7 days
And having fulfilled the commandments of passover,
The pilgrims would leave jerusalem
And go back to their homes.
I am so grateful we're here together with our families.
I feel blessed to be traveling with you,
Mary.
As do I.
Joseph,
Do you know where jesus is?
I haven't seen him.
He's probably back there.
Hey.
He's growing up.
He knows where to find us.
The boys were together in the back.
He's with malachii. Don't worry.
We must make the in before nightfall.
We should wait for him.
Joseph,
He's not here.
We have to stay here until the boys catch up.
Malachi,
Where's jesus? I don't know.
I haven't seen him all day.
I thought you were together
We must go back
We have to find him, mary, mary.
Have you seen jesus?
Bar
Have you see like some
Have you seen a 12 year old boy named jesus?
There are so many boys named jesus.
I'm sorry, my dear.
Maybe he went back to the temple.
Ask them if they've seen our boy.
Have you seen a 12-year-old boy?
No.
Wait there.
You notice that one is missing.
Because
God doesn't favor wealth or excuse me.
Forgive me,
But I've been looking all over for our son,
And here he is.
We wondered where this young man's father was.
He's been taught well. Come, very well.
My son,
We thought we'd lost you forever.
Come,
Come, come.
You are not allowed to be in the temple.
Is this your woman? It's all right.
It's all right.
Do you know what you put your mother through,
Your mother and me.
You worried us to death.
Don't you understand that?
I thought I would die from worry.
I'm sorry, mother. I, I, I,
We were well on the way back,
And we had to turn around and go looking for you.
I was in my father's house.
We have to retrieve our load and feed the donkey.
You were there since we left.
Yes.
You were talking with the elders
Throughout the night, yes, you tried their patience. No,
They've welcomed me.
What is it?
We must go.
Mother, I, I.
Mary, what is it?
You were almost grabbed away from us when you were a baby
And killed.
Yes, you've told me, mother.
We have to walk on.
It just came over me
How close it was.
Her husband was gone.
Now
Only she knew
Who her son was
The time
What will we do?
I can't afford to send out for more wine.
I'll be the laughing stock of galilee.
There's not a drop left.
We'll be disgraced.
We should just send everyone home now.
And
Then he said yeah.
They're out of wine
What is that to me, woman?
They couldn't afford any more.
It's not the time yet.
To reveal anything.
It's a wedding feast.
They will be disgraced.
What can we do?
Tell them to come here.
I overheard you just now.
My son can help.
Does he have wine? Come, come with me.
Get your servants.
Fill all your empty jars with water.
Why?
Fill the jars and bring them here.
I don't understand
Do what he's told you to do.
Yeah
This is my mother.
And this is mary of magdala.
So,
Here's your water.
Dip your cup.
This is a wonderful trick.
What do you mean by that?
Why have you saved your best for last?
Most people serve their best at the start.
Why?
Wayne is here.
Our best wine.
Wayne is here.
One for everybody.
Bye.
Out of kindness
She had compelled him to reveal himself.
She had set the wheels in motion.
Everything was out in the open now.
And nothing would ever be the same.
A nation that's divided against itself
Will be destroyed.
A city or a household divided against itself
Will crumble.
If satan drives out satan.
He's divided against himself,
And then how can his nation stand?
Why should we listen to you?
You should listen to everything. We know who you are.
We know your mother
That's her over there.
Who is my mother?
Whoever does the will of god.
Is my mother.
Her love was a mother's love,
But
Only she understood that he had been sent to this world.
His appearance was a,
A message of love to humanity.
So what would his destiny be?
Even before he spoke about it,
She must have known
That his days on earth were numbered.
Jesus of nazareth.
I'm speaking to you.
And I'm hearing you.
We've tried to speak to you on many occasions,
But now you've forced us to confront you.
I suppose that on those earlier occasions I wasn't.
Take care.
Speak respectfully before a pharisee.
Why tread carefully, you and your followers.
Make a regular practice of breaking the laws.
Which laws? Breaking the fast, healing on the sabbath.
Your laws and your enforcement of them defy god's commandments.
How dare you?
You keep strict accounts of every last offering that comes to the temple.
And who's made it
And how more or less it is than their last offering,
But when it comes to matters of decency
And compassion,
You couldn't care less.
Why should anyone place their trust in you?
Vipers, vipers, all of you.
The ground beneath your feet
Is thinning, jesus of nazareth.
Oh.
In the end
There was only one inevitable outcome.
For mary
The worst of all outcomes.
Form
My
You were given to me
And now you've been taken from me.
How can the sun rise and set another day on this earth without you?
How can my heart keep beating?
Goodbye, my beloved son.
Goodbye.
Couple.
Have.
Ish.
Something's happened.
They've taken him.
Mother.
Mother,
Mother
Is this a dream?
It is me.
Hey
You died.
I'm with you.
I'm always with you.
I saw you die.
I saw you suffer.
I saw the wounds on your body.
I saw what they did to you.
I'm with you.
And you will be with me.
We will be together
In my father's house.
Beyond the end of time.
Where there is nothing but the truth.
And the light
The ecstasy of salvation.
Beyond the end of time.
With you
You
Made everything possible.
You brought salvation into this world.
It was all because of you.
You
Will be with me in heaven.
Beyond the end of time.
Together
My son is home.
I
My son
It was said
That she lived out her final years on this earth
In ephesus.
My son
My son.
In the christian faith, mary is a pillar,
A perfect soul who steps into her beloved son's shadow.
When you examine her life closely,
You start to see her terror,
Her astonishment.
Her confusion, her sorrow.
Her great love
It's a life unlike any other.
So we made this episode in an attempt to get closer to mary,
The mother of jesus, and
Really.
For so many of us all around the world.
The mother of us all
So in this episode about mary,
The key was to try to,
Uh, confront the reality of
Mary as a human being and as a mother.
A lot of people find mary
In a sense more approachable than jesus,
Right? Who's after all, you know, the son of god.
Mary is, you know, more like ourselves,
And sometimes people feel more comfortable going to mary first,
But she's pointing always to her son,
And she's not only the queen of heaven and the mother of god,
She's also mary of nazareth,
Right?
Backwater.
Yeah,
That's why I thought she wouldn't stand out
As to say this is a special person that you met.
Maybe if you
Had a one on one with her and you spoke and you looked into the eye.
Eyes and you begin to sense something,
But the beauty of it is that it's
Part of all of us. I always thought,
Or at least the theology around how people talk about her
Is that she said yes,
It let it be done according to your will
And to have it be coming from this deep place of trust
And faith in the lord. A sister,
Sister janice farnham said this to me once
That in the nunciation at the very end it says,
And then the angel left her.
Right,
And the time of faith,
Really, you know,
Until his birth and then jesus' public ministry
Is her sort of relying on those experiences that she had.
I love that they showed her labor as like a real labor,
Not oh no,
That's.
And it shows that jesus really did come into the world as we do.
Yeah,
And then also to take mary through the years of jesus' adolescence
To have mary and, and joseph react
In a very natural way
About missing their son. They lost the child. Everybody's leaving jerusalem and he's, you know, 13 or whatever it is, and really get mad.
I think they got really angry.
The anxiety of a parent is really in that episode,
So human, uh, and then
I hadn't noticed until watching this that
That prefigures the crucifixion.
The mother is losing her sons.
The gospel writers
Want us to understand jesus as the son of god
And want us to understand mary's born without sin.
Joseph as a saint.
But it's a very human family,
Right? It still comes through
And she experiences this as as you were saying,
Paul,
This anxiety we often call her our lady of sorrows but also our lady of anxiety too.
I mean the anxiety of after the nunciation,
Right?
The anxiety of what's this boy going to become
Just this constant level of wondering
And you know that great line in the gospel
She treasured all these things in her heart,
You know, the original contemplative, uh,
In the christian life and.
And yet is able to accomplish all of this,
Right? The sense of her,
Her presence at so many points in jesus' ministry
In the gospel, she,
She comes in now and then,
But of course she's there. It's a small community.
People stick with their own.
Her son is gifted. They love each other.
This episode really brought that out to me in a way
That I've never felt before that of course she knows,
But it's just from, she's on the scene.
We
Invented a scene in which the resurrected
Jesus
Appears before mary,
Which is not in the gospel.
How much dramatic license could one take
With these stories with these people,
Especially
When we're dealing with somebody from the gospels.
Uh, interestingly, uh, in his spiritual exercises,
Saint ignatius loyola says that it may be piously believed
That
Jesus appeared to mary after the resurrection,
And I, as a,
As a catholic and as a christian have to say,
Of course jesus appeared to mary,
Right, right,
Even though it's not in the gospels,
Right?
There's a lot of stuff that happened that,
You know, was not recorded in the gospels.
So I thought it did a great job
Of,
Of showing the arc of,
You know, the most
Extraordinary life you could imagine.