Gospel for the Day: Mary's Fiat

A friend of mine commented that when Mary said yes to God's call, she probably did not know the full import of what she was saying yes to. In a sense, it was beyond her. She knew at the moment of the annunciation that she was being asked to accept a child born outside of marriage (after all that was what was asked for). But maybe she did not know that she would have to run off to Egypt or that the little boy who was supposed to be the Son of the Most High would answer her sharply at Cana or at the Temple or that the little boy she cared for would be hated by the powers-that-be and would lead him to his death. As Jesus grew up, Mary might have wondered if she had said yes to more than she bargained for and yet, through it all, she said yes and cooperated fully with God's will working in her life.

We tend to think of Mary's yes as a fiat, a blank check which she signed to God surrendering her entire life. In reality, Mary's yes needed to be repeated during various important points in Jesus' life but also in their everyday life as mother and Son. At every major point and during her everyday life as a mother, Mary was being asked to say yes to things that were becoming increasingly difficult, including saying yes to the gruesome death of her son, and by God's grace, she found the strength to do so.

- October 1, 2006