Abraham and Mary – Pilgrims of Faith and Carriers of the Promise
Part 3 of a 5-Part Reflection on Adrienne von Speyr's The Handmaid of the Lord
Today, let’s consider the deep connection between Mary and another great figure of faith—our father Abraham. The Letter to the Hebrews, which I often return to with much affection, speaks powerfully to a community under pressure. The letter addresses Jewish Christians tempted to turn back, to return to what is familiar in the face of suffering. Hebrews reminds them, and us, that faith is not rooted in what is seen or secure, but in trusting the unseen fidelity of God.
At the end of chapter 10 and into chapter 11, the author begins to unfold a litany of witnesses—men and women who lived by faith. Among them, Abraham stands out: “He went out, not knowing where he was going… for he looked forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:8,10). Abraham is called the father of faith because he left all he knew, placing his trust not in his own understanding, but in the God who calls.
Mary, in her own hidden and luminous way, walks that same path. If Abraham believed in the promise, Mary believed in the fulfillment. In her fiat—“Let it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38) Mary consents to carry within her the very hope that Abraham longed for. Her Magnificat is the song of the promise made flesh. She becomes the dwelling place of the living God, the true tabernacle, not made by human hands.
Mary’s faith is not abstract or detached. It is total gift. It is abandonment into the will of the Father, not unlike Abraham’s journey but in even greater intimacy. Abraham left his homeland; Mary surrendered her very body. Abraham looked forward to the city of God; Mary bore the King of that city within her womb.
Both Abraham and Mary were called into the unknown. They received no guarantees, no map. Only a promise. And they trusted. This is the essence of real faith—not seeing, but believing; not controlling, but consenting.
If Abraham is the father of faith, Mary is the perfect fruit of that faith. She receives the Word, shelters it, and gives it to the world. In her, the covenant becomes flesh.
And what of us? We, too, are called to walk this path. Not as solitary pilgrims, but as Christ-bearers, echoing Mary’s fiat in the small and hidden invitations of daily life. We are invited to trust God not only when the path is clear, but especially when it is obscure—when we “go out not knowing where we are going.”
Let us ask:
What act of trust is God asking of me today? What unknown is He calling me into, and what promise—however small—is He planting in the soil of my heart?
Like Abraham and Mary, may we believe. And in believing, may we bear the promise that is Christ, for the life of the world.
© 2025, Lawain McNeil, Mission Surrender, LLC.