In St. Luke’s Gospel (1, 26-38), we encounter Mary’s “Yes” to God – a turning point in the history of the world! It is the moment of the Incarnation, when the Word became flesh and began to live among us as one of us. The world would never be the same! In a way, this is a more important moment than Christmas, but it is understandable that we should tend to celebrate more the “visible” presence of God in Jesus at Bethlehem.
In all honesty, Mary had yet to learn what that “Yes” involved in its entirety, but her response to God was made unconditionally and it was never withdrawn. Through a life of trials and tribulations, of which we can know surely only a fraction, right up to those terrible moments as she stood beneath the Cross and saw her only Son die, she never once withdrew her “Yes.”
Is there a message in all of this for us? We too have been called in our own special way to bring Jesus into the world. We too have been called to say “Yes” – an unconditional “Yes” – to following Jesus and to following the lead of His mother. The waning days of Advent are the perfect time for us to renew our pledge of faithfulness – with Mary’s help and example.
“Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.”
