Lk.1,26-28: Mary’s “Yes”

Nobody knows what the future holds for us. There may be a few who had been gifted with insight into the future, but generally, we, including Mary, are ignorant about what still will be.

No doubt, Mary knew the history of her people. She knew their desperations and hopes. She knew that God would fulfill his promise of salvation. But she could not have thought even once that she would be playing the vital role of delivering the Son of God into the world. Consider her shock when Angel Gabriel broke the good news to her. How could she have even imagined that she would become the Mother of God? She was only a very poor young lady from an obscure village. But when the fullness of time arrived for God to work out his plan of mercy, Mary, herself mindful of God’s mercy, said, “Let it be done unto me as you have said.” And she became, as it were, the receptacle of God’s mercy for the world.

That crucial “yes” of Mary started a new chapter in the history of the world. It was as if God’s light as never seen before finally broke through into mankind. And we thank Mary for saying her unconditional “yes” to God. That yes was not only a yes to Him, but it was as much a yes to us, her fellow human beings, her sons and daughters.

The “yes” that Mary gave the Angel at the Annunciation was only the first in a series of yeses in her whole life as the Mother of God. Almost immediately after she had given birth to Jesus, she learned the bare truth about his dreadful destiny and that her heart would be pierced by the sword. It must have taken time for the prophecy of Simeon about the sorrows to come to sink in her. But certainly she came to realize that accepting that prophecy was fundamental or central to the fiat, to that “yes” she professed at the Annunciation.

Although she, together with Joseph, had to protect her child from the deadly hands of Herod, and so they had to run to Egypt for safety, she kept her fiat. Although she must have become hysterical when she thought she had lost her son when he was 12, she still said yes. Although she was struck with great pain when she saw her son being rejected by the people of Nazareth – by their own people – and almost pushed by them over the cliff, she didn’t break loose of her yes. And although she was already drowning with so much hurt at seeing her son carrying that heavy cross towards Calvary, his face like a workshop of blood, of sweat and of derisive saliva, she never said “no” to God. But she patiently endured everything unto the foot of the cross. This is where her fiat had brought her. From her fiat at the Annunciation to her fiat at the foot of the cross, Mary remained the Mother of God; she lived her divine motherhood.

There are innumerable instances in our lives when we have to say “yes” or otherwise to someone or to something. Questions range from something trivial to something crucial, from something funny to something hurting, from something childish to something serious. Sometimes we postpone answering; but there come times when we are pressed for an answer. No matter what our answer to the question may be, we have to face the implications and consequences of that answer.

If you lose a loved one, especially when he is tragically taken away from you, would you still say yes to God? If your beloved son or daughter fail the bar or board exam despite your fervent and unceasing prayers, would you still say yes to God? If your good name is destroyed when all along you try to be the best person that you can be wherever you are, would you still say yes to God? Or would you still say yes to your spouse after he or she has betrayed your trust? Would you still say yes to your son or daughter after he or she has dragged your family to utter humiliation? Would you still say yes to your parents after they have failed to be the father and mother that they should be to you? No matter what we go through in life, we should not despair and say “no” to God.

Tony Castle relates that occasionally he meets someone who seems to have a secret, some special knowledge that sets that person apart. One such person was Ruby Free. Tony met her when she was conducting a Holy Land tour. He thought that she must have a secret, for how else could she accomplish so much, so easily? And he envied her. Ruby was a good listener, a troubleshooter, an organizer, a mother to her two children, etc. Yet she never got tired. He wanted to know her secret. And then when they returned home, he visited her. And Tony discovered Ruby’s secret. There it was, a two-word motto over her kitchen sink. It said: “Yes, Lord.”

Like Ruby, we can live that Marian brand of obedience to the will of God. Just as through Mary’s yes, God’s help gushed forth into the world, so would the same divine assistance flow to us with our yes to Him. To a great degree, our fiat will determine the breadth and length of our Christian happiness and fulfillment, emphasis put on the word “Christian”. And if your life is a “yes” to God, would you still need to know what the future will bring?