all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. [acts 1:14]
with one accord
the Christian faith is a faith of unity. these followers of Christ had experienced the most fantastic events in all of history, and now were expecting God to continue moving among them in a way that they did not yet understand.
they didn’t spend this time trying to figure out what this might look like, strategizing how to respond, or debating what to do next. they simply spent this time devoted to prayer in unity.
how much we can accomplish when we don’t try to accomplish anything!
when we trust in God alone and devote ourselves to prayer, he will move in ways that are beyond our imagination.
together with the women
the apostles were not alone in this, but were joined by a larger group including the family of Jesus, his mother mary, and devout women. this reflects the beauty which permeates the Church that Jesus established. as paul writes in galatians 3:28, “there is neither jew nor greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
from the beginning, women played a significant role in this new messianic movement. these faithful women were in one accord with the apostles, actively engaging in the Church and devoting themselves to prayer alongside their brothers.
as for mary, how beautiful that this amazing woman stood with the apostles in prayer at this moment! she who was visited by gabriel, announcing the birth of Jesus (luke 1:26-28), was now anxiously awaiting yet another birth: the birth of the Church through the Holy Spirit.
mary was about to see the fulfillment of what had begun over 30 years before, and just like us, mary had found a new, unified, prayerful family of faith because of what God had done.
~ jason soroski