Archive for the ‘Mary’ Category

Mary – an ordinary girl

August 17, 2024

Pentecost 13 – 2024

Celebration of Mary (St Mary’s) Kangaroo Point

 Luke 2:1-7

Marian Free

Hail, Mary, full of grace,

Blessed art thou amongst women

the Lord is with thee.

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

pray for us sinners,

now and at the hour of our death. 

Amen.

Grotto in the Basilica of the Annunciation (above). Mary’s well (below)

If you visit Nazareth, you will probably be taken to two Marian sites at both of which you will be told that this was where the angel appeared to Mary. One site is the Basilica of the Annunciation. Beneath the floor of this church a first century grotto was uncovered in which was found a foundation stone inscribed with the words: “Hail Mary”. A second site is known as Mary’s well – a covered well which used to be fed by a spring and from which water was drawn by Palestinian villagers for many years. Of course, we have no way of knowing at which site, if either, the angel appeared to Mary. The gospels do not accurately record where the events of Jesus’ life occurred and it was not until the fourth century when Helen, the mother of the then Emperor Constantine visited the Holy Land, that any such details were documented for posterity. 

In terms of developing a background for Mary, we are not served well by our scriptures. We have a backstory Elizabeth, who according to Luke, was a descendant of Aaron, was. married to Zechariah who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah, was righteous before God, and lived blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. Luke further informs us that both Zechariah and Elizabeth were “getting on in years” and that Zechariah was performing his priestly duties when the angel appeared to him.

In contrast, we know nothing of Mary’ s life prior to the appearance of the angel. Though we are given quite a lot of detail about Elizabeth, Luke appears not to be interested in Mary’s heritage or her piety. The only information he gives us is that when the angel appeared to Mary, she was in a town in Galilee called Nazareth and she was engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. Similarly, Luke is not particularly interested in where Mary is when the angel appears. What he tells us is that despite Mary’s initial confusion at the angel’s announcement, she readily submits to God’s will, and then she visits her cousin and sings a hymn exalting in the reversal of the fortunes of the rich and poor. 

Details of Mary’s parents and of her childhood belong to a later time and are almost certainly apocryphal.

That said, it is clear from the Gospels and Acts that Mary was held in regard by the early church, both as the mother of Jesus and as a prominent member of the community.

Perhaps as a consequence of her place in the emerging church, veneration of Mary began quite early. In the Roman catacombs there are paintings of Mary with the Christ child that date from the middle of the 2nd Century. Dedication to Mary grew and in 431CE. the Council of Ephesus gave Mary the title, Theotokos or Mother of God – thus sealing her place in the devotional life of the church. It was, and is, believed that Mary’s special relationship with Jesus enabled her to intercede with him on behalf of believers, a belief that became especially important in the Dark Ages.  When God was depicted as a remote and unforgiving figure and the church held the fear of hell fire over its members, Mary offered a vision of the divine that was conciliatory, relational and accessible. 

The trajectory  from Mary, the unknown young girl from Nazareth to Mary Queen of Heaven, is more complex than my simple picture, but what it is clear is that over time, Mary had been transformed from a person much like you and I, into an ideal figure to be appealed to and worshipped, and had been assigned an intercessory role between those who prayed and the God to whom they prayed.

The last thing I want to do is to disparage or diminish the practice of venerating Mary, but I can’t help wondering if elevating Mary to such an extent has had the effect of distancing Mary from us, of making her more into an idealised figure who is beyond our reach rather than someone with whom we can identify and whose example we can aspire to emulate.  

When the angel appeared to Mary, she did not stand out from the crowd in any way that the evangelists thought was worth recording. She could not trace her ancestry back to any person of significance, let alone to Aaron or to David. Her piety appears not to have set her apart from the crowd. As the scriptures tell it, Mary was an unknown, even ordinary, young girl from an insignificant place in an occupied country with no claim to notoriety or to religiosity. She was an ordinary person living an ordinary life when, out of the blue an angel appears with startling news. 

Mary is startled, but does not run away, she expresses surprise, but not anxiety and despite the fact that she is entering unchartered waters, despite the fact. That she has no idea how Joseph will respond, and despite potential cost to herself Mary says: “yes” to God. What is significant is not her background or even her faithfulness, but rather her openness to the presence of God and her willingness to say: “Yes” even when God suggested the impossible.  

In Mary, the Mary to whom the angel appeared, not the Mary who is the creation of the church, we find someone like ourselves – someone of little or no importance, someone without qualifications or impressive forbears, someone who is uncertain and tentative, someone whose faith and piety does not set them apart but someone who is curious and open to the presence of God in her life.

As the mother of Jesus, the one whose ‘yes’ to God changed the course of history, Mary deserves a special place in history and in our hearts, but perhaps the most significant role Mary has to play is that of reminding us that “ordinary” people – people like you and I – have the capacity to do extraordinary things. Mary is constant reminder that God does not seek extraordinary, talented, well- known people to make God’s presence known in the world. God uses people like you and like I, if only we are open to God’s presence in our lives and willing to add our “yes” to that of Mary.

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Open to possibility, Mary’s “yes” to God

December 23, 2023

Advent 4 – 2024

Luke 1:26-38

Marian Free

In the name of God who gives us courage to face life’s challenges and who through them brings new things to birth. Amen.

When I told my mother that I was expecting a third child her first reaction was to ask: “Was it planned?” It was not that she was not happy for me, but she wanted to be able to support me if I’d been caught off guard and if my life-plans had been turned upside down by this turn of events. She knew that an unexpected pregnancy would bring with it all kinds of anxieties like – can I/we afford another child? will I/we need a new car? how will this impact on my/our older children? will it make a difference to my/our career? what will other people think? 

Those are the questions and then there are the realities. Even if a pregnancy is planned or greeted with joy it comes with significant discomfort – morning sickness, swollen ankles, and the discomfort of another body inhabiting one’s own. After the birth, there are the sleepless nights, the nappies, and the constant demands not to mention the multitude of accessories that go with infancy.  My pregnancy was planned, as was the new car, but for many people news of pregnancy is not a joyful experience, rather a time of confusion and fear. I can’t begin to imagine what it must be like to know that you are carrying a child and to know that it is the last thing that you want.

Luke’s brief account of the Annunciation carries none of the emotion that one might expect to accompany such momentous news. It is a highly romanticised depiction of an event which seriously understates the terror that an angel would inspire and which ignores the possibility that Mary might have experienced any disquiet at such an unexpected announcement.  Remember, Mary is young and unmarried, far from ready to take on the responsibility of pregnancy and motherhood.  She lives in a culture in which she could be stoned for adultery and, out of the blue, an angel pops by with some shocking, incomprehensible news. “You are favoured by God and by the way, God will demonstrate how favoured you are by making you pregnant in a culture that could stone you to death for being pregnant outside marriage.”  

Note that Mary is not offered a choice, she is simply told how things are. The angel goes on to tell Mary what her son will be, but he gives her no suggestions as to how she might manage the situation – how to break the news to her parents – let alone to Joseph, how to face her neighbours’ contempt and judgment and above all, how she is to manage as a single mother.

From now on Mary’s life will be irrevocably changed (possibly for the worse) and Luke expects us to believe that she simply bowed her head and said: “OK whatever God wants”. I wonder how many women, let alone girls, you know who would be so unperturbed by the angel’s perplexing and terrifying announcement?

While Luke’s account does tell us something about Mary’s humble submission to God’s will, might it not also be challenging us to consider how we respond to interruptions to our plans, asking us to think about how we might adjust, adapt, and even see God’s hand in life-altering events, especially those that at first glance appear to be calamitous. I’m thinking of devastating diagnoses, destructive natural disasters, traumatic ends to relationships, loss of a child, termination of a job, or any number of things for which we do not (cannot) plan, but which dramatically alter our life’s trajectory.

When we receive unwelcome news we usually go through a number of stages – disbelief then fear or anger, and then acceptance or resistance. In my experience, people of faith almost always choose acceptance. No matter how awful the circumstances, we find strength in the knowledge that God is with us and will give us the courage to carry on. We know too that the God who created the universe out of nothing and who brings life from death, is able to transform tragedy into possibility, and “to conceive hope in the midst of every tragic loss.”[1] In retrospect we can see the seeds of new birth in what appeared to be the death of all our hopes and dreams. As our lives take on a completely different direction, we grow in ways that we had never imagined and which, had we continued on our previous trajectory, would have been impossible.

Let me be plain, we do not have a fickle God who inflicts pain and sends disasters to shock us out of our selfish ways, rather God is a very real presence in times of upheaval. God stands with and beside us, ready to pick us up and to walk with us even through the valley of death. Circumstances may force us to radically re-evaluate our lives, which as a consequence of illness or loss are irrevocably change. But, if we are open to the Holy Spirit, we may witness God bringing to birth something completely new and unexpected, that would not have come to fruition without the tragedy that preceded it..

When the angel appeared to Mary, her world was turned upside down. Her initial terror turned to confusion and finally to acceptance. It is her acceptance that life is not going to be the way she planned that opens her to the possibility that the alternative (with God’s help) might be OK, and frees her to get on with the business of living.

Ultimately, we are not in control.  We cannot plan our lives to the last detail.  When things do not go as expect, we have a choice. We can resist change and rail against God and the universe, or we simply bow our heads and, like Mary say “Yes”, put our lives into the hands of the living God, and believie against all evidence to the contrary that our present pain and confusion will bring to birth something new and life-giving. Our “yes” to life’s circumstances, however awful, mirrors Mary’s “yes” to the angel’s awesome news and allows God to bring to birth new possibilities for ourselves and, in some cases, for the world.

Love

            Margaret Wesley (Rector Parish of Ashgrove)

This Christmas, may love be born in you,

As he was in Bethlehem,

To parents unprepared for such a gift

(Since, who could be?)

May love find you unprepared yet willing 

To receive its smiles and tears,

Its painful truths and gentle silences,

Its gifts and sacrifices.

This Christmas, may love be

The awkward guest at your table,

And in the New Year may it take your hand

And lead you into the street to dance with your neighbours.

[1] I am grateful to Dr M.  Craig Barnes for introducing another perspective. https://nationalpres.org/sermons/how-can-this-be/

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Who would God choose?

December 18, 2021

Advent 4 – 2021
Luke 1:39-55
Marian Free

In the name of God who overturns the structures of power, wealth and status and who chooses the poor and the vulnerable to bring God to life in the world. Amen.

This year I received a Christmas card on which the image was a reproduction of a painting by Australian artist Rod Moss. I have to say that it is the most realistic image of the Holy Family that I have ever been privileged to see. Rod Moss has adapted a painting by Caravaggio and has used as his model an indigenous family and a central Australian setting. What stands out to me is the fact that the scene is not sentimental, nor has it been sanitised or primped. It is posed to be sure, but the models are real people – people who are almost certainly more like Mary and Joseph than any other representation that I have seen.

The background is likewise unadorned – it is bare and plain – a simple corrugated iron structure, a family of dogs and an angel that is not overtly “angelic”.

From the image one can deduce that this is a family who have little to spare. Mary is dressed simply in a blue, ill-fitting, open-necked polo shirt paired with a bright patterned skirt. Her long hair is not covered, and strands have broken loose from her ponytail. Not for this Mary the spotless white head covering or perfect blue robe in which she is usually depicted. Joseph wears a shirt that is a bit too big for his narrow frame and his longish hair is tousled rather than neatly brushed unlike the tidy, well-groomed Joseph of most nativity scenes.

The baby is lying (arms outstretched) on a bed.

Moss’s image provides what to me is a realistic picture of Mary and Joseph – a couple from a poor rural town who have travelled by foot for several days only to discover that there is nowhere for them to stay when they arrive at their destination. The painting is a stark reminder that neither Mary or Joseph came from families of privilege, wealth, status or power.

An image such as this – one that doesn’t gloss over the poverty and the hardships faced by Mary and Joseph – gives power and meaning to Mary’s song. “He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly” (Lk 1:52). In response to Elizabeth’s blessing, Mary seems to grasp the implications of what God has done – that in choosing her to bear God’s anointed, God has clearly demonstrated God’s preference for the poor. Mary has no position or heritage that sets her apart, a fact that is further amplified by the fact that she is a woman, yet she is the one whom God has chosen to bring God into the world. In choosing Mary, God has acted contrary to expectation that God will enter the world with power and might and God has made it clear that justice and equity are at the heart of God’s relationship with the world.

Our English translation does not do justice to grammar of the text. As O. Wesley Allen Jn. Allen points out Luke shapes the Magnificat by having Mary speak of God’s actions in the past tense: “God looked, did great things for me, showed strength, scattered the proud, brought down the powerful, lifted up the lowly, filled the hungry, sent the rich away empty, and helped Israel (verses 48–54). English translations render the verbs in the perfect tense (for example, “has looked”) implying an action in the past that continues into the present. But the Greek verbs are all aorist, indicating actions completely completed in the past .”

In the words of her song, Mary is saying that God has (already) acted. God’s choice of Mary is proof positive of God’s preference for the poor, the marginalized and the dispossessed. It is not something that is going to happen – it has happened. God has acted. God has demonstrated God’s preference, has provided a glimpse of the kingdom values.

God’s choice of Mary is a slap in the face of all who think that their power, their influence or their wealth comes from God, who think that their place in the world implies that they are better than those who do not share their privilege, or who think that because they are richer and more powerful that it is within their right to exploit or to oppress others.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer describes the Magnificat this way: “It is at once the most passionate, the wildest, one might even say the most revolutionary Advent hymn ever sung. This is not the gentle, tender, dreamy Mary whom we sometimes see in paintings…. This song has none of the sweet, nostalgic, or even playful tones of some of our Christmas carols. It is instead a hard, strong, inexorable song about the power of God and the powerlessness of humankind.”

Mary’s song is an indictment against a church that has become institutionalised and that has aligned itself with the cultural norms and values of the world in which it finds itself. It critiques a church that has become contented with its place among the establishment, the respectable and the comfortable. It puts the lie to the idea that God needs beautiful churches and well-dressed congregations, and it challenges all of us who believe that we are doing all that we can to bring about God’s kingdom.

Mary’s song is an uncomfortable song and echoes down the ages with a message for us all.

What does God’s choice tell us about our attitudes and dispositions, our value judgments, our position in the world? I wonder who God would choose today and how comfortable would God’s choice make us feel?

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Being God’s presence in the world

December 19, 2020

Advent 4 – 2020

Luke 1:26-38

Marian Free

In the name of God, in whom we live and breathe and have our being. Amen.

In the movie series Aliens, ghastly face-hugging creatures incubate their young in the bodies of humans. When the young are ready to be born, they burst out of their hosts – in the process killing them. It is a gruesome and disturbing image but can be relegated to the realm of science fiction. Back on this planet, nature has all kinds of examples of one species using another to their own advantage. For example, the fig that uses a host tree to give it support but which eventually suffocates the tree or the mistletoe that uses the tree to gain water and to assist with photosynthesis and which can gradually take over the tree such that it unrecognizable. Some relationships are one-sided as in the case of epiphytes which provide little to the tree on which they grow but which gain support, moisture and nutrients from being attached to the tree. Not all relationships are predatory or self-seeking. There are many examples of symbiotic relationships in the natural world – relationships that are mutually beneficial and in which neither partner loses anything of itself. The clown fish finds shelter among the anemone and at the same time produces nutrients that feed the anemone and frightens away potential predators. The heron eats the pests that bother cattle feeds itself while providing relief to the cow.

Even the human body is a complex ecosystem relying on a variety of tiny bacteria which are necessary for our survival. We the host, support them and they in turn maintain our health.

Pregnancy could be seen as a one-sided relationship. The foetus not only depends on the mother for everything – oxygen and nutrients, but he or she also relies on her to protect it from harmful substances and events. An unborn child can cause discomfort, swelling and even serious illness. Women who welcome their pregnancy bear these inconveniences with varying degrees of good humour. Pregnancy is an extraordinary experience. Almost from conception the intruder makes its presence known in morning sickness and through swollen nipples. Before long the bearer becomes aware pressure on various organs but also of movement and hiccups – the very real signs of a life-form within. Mother (and father) wait with bated breath to meet the child they have created and then they spend a lifetime in awe that watching that child grow and become their own selves.

Mary’s pregnancy, amazing as it is, can be seen as a metaphor for the spiritual life. Mary’s “yes” to God indicates an openness to God’s presence in her life and her acceptance of the pregnancy shows a willingness to bring Jesus to life in the world. 

Our task is no less awesome. God asks to be a part of our life and our “yes” is a commitment to bring Christ to birth in the world. As it did for Mary, our agreeing to bring Jesus to birth entails having the courage to cede control to God, to be unconcerned as to what others might think of us and not caught up with the values of the world. It means allowing the presence of God to totally infuse our lives. It means letting go of our egos and of our human limitations and frailties so that God can truly inspire and direct everything that we do. In saying ‘yes’ to God we discover that we lose nothing but gain everything. 

Like pregnancy, the experience of allowing God to take up residence in us may involve some discomfort and some emotional disquiet. Having said ‘yes’ to God we may find that there are some aspects of our lives that are harder to give up than others. (We might be able to let go of our attachment to material things, but not to our hurts or to our ambitions.) It won’t always be smooth sailing and we may want to turn back when the going gets too hard. There may be times when we resent or resist the gentle or not so gentle urging of God to do or be something different. But if, to quote Augustine: “We let go and let God”, we will become more fully alive, more authentic, more like the God whom we have welcome to live within us.

Throughout Advent and the weeks prior, we have rediscovered that Advent is all about being prepared, about readiness. The theme of Advent revolves around the letting down of our barriers and of our opening ourselves to God and to God’s presence in us. Above all Advent encourages us to give to Christmas its true meaning in our lives being a part of God’s entering the world and of allowing God to enter us.

The orthodox have a saying: “Jesus became human so that humans might become gods.” It is a profound and difficult statement which challenges us to become more like Jesus – fully human and fully divine – something that is impossible unless with Mary, we find the courage to say: ‘yes’ to God. It is only when we say a wholehearted, ‘yes’ that we discover our true destiny as God’s presence in the world.

Both Advent and Lent focus our minds on our true purpose as Christians – to let go of our own ambitions and to seek that true union with God that is both our purpose and goal.

With or without an angel, God is seeking our cooperation to be part of the Incarnation. Are you ready?

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Trust and doubt

December 19, 2015

Advent 4 – 2015

Luke 3:39-45

Marian Free

In the name of God who inspires our trust. Amen.

I once saw a sign outside a church that read: “When all else fails pray!” At first it took me aback, then I realised that it was an accurate description of the relationship that some of us have with God. Maybe I am speaking just for myself, but I suspect that I am not the only person who tends to rely on my own resources first and remember God second. On a day-to-day basis, I think that I place my trust in God. I certainly believe that God directs my life and that I don’t have to be concerned about the future. However, I have to admit that there are times, especially in times of crisis, when my first reaction is to think of solutions rather than to commit the situation to prayer and trust that God will provide me with an answer.

How far do you trust God? Do rely too much on your own resources or do you have complete confidence in God? Or – do you like most of us – vacillate between complete and utter trust and an anxiety that if we don’t do it ourselves nothing will happen. Most of us have a deep trust that God is with us, but that doesn’t meant that there are not times when we act on our own.

In this tension between trust and doubt we are not alone. Abraham left everything to set out on a crazy journey to a place that he had never heard of, led by a God who was not the God of his fathers. Yet he did not trust God to fulfill the promise of a son and took matters into his own hands. The people of Israel followed Moses into the wilderness only to waver when they got to the Promised Land. Elijah, who put to shame the priests of Baal, had moments when he thought that God had abandoned him. John the Baptist who, we are told, saw the Spirit descend on Jesus, still needed to ask Jesus if he was the one to come. The disciples, who at first so readily followed Jesus, had times of doubt – most visibly demonstrated by their absence at Jesus’ trial and crucifixion and their lack of direction after his death.

Few of us it seems are able to completely let go and let God, few of us are able to surrender ourselves entirely into God’s care. At some points in our lives we find ourselves wanting to take control. We pray: “Your will be done” and then exercise our own will.

Part of the eternal struggle is our unwillingness to trust God and our determination to go our own way. We wonder why the world is as it is, yet fail to see that time and again, we take over instead of allowing God to take charge of world affairs. The story of Eden is played out every day as human being compete with God for control as our desire for independence leads to decisions that have disastrous consequences – for ourselves and for others. When Abraham and Sarah took things into their own hands, it had disastrous consequences for themselves and for Hagar and Ishmael. When the Israelites were too afraid to trust God to lead them into the Promised Land, they sentenced themselves to forty more years in the wilderness. When Peter didn’t accept that Jesus had to suffer, he was accused of being Satan. When we take things into our own hands, it can lead to disastrous consequences. When we act on our own behalf we interfere with and subvert God’s plans for us, we delay fulfillment of God’s promise and damage our relationship with God and very often with those around us. When we fail to place our trust completely in God, we prevent God from directing our lives in ways that lead to contentment and peace, for ourselves and for the world.

Trust exists when one person is willing to rely on another to the extent that they abandon control over the actions performed by the other and thereby risk a certain amount of uncertainty with regard to the outcome[1]. Trusting in God means handing over control and accepting that even though things don’t go the way we hope, God will be with us in the process and God will see us through to the end.

In Mary we have one example of trust outweighing doubt. Mary was deeply disturbed, agitated even by the angel’s announcement to her and her response was to challenge and to question how such a thing might be possible. Yet despite her fear and anxiety, Mary was able to stifle her incredulity and to accept not only that she would have a child, but that somehow in her conservative, closed society that God would find a way to protect both herself and her child.

Mary’s trust was not without cost. Almost from the beginning she had to let go of her promised son. Jesus caused anxiety by staying behind in Jerusalem to dialogue with the priests. On another occasion, he refused to see her claiming that those who believed were his mother, his sisters and his brothers, and all the time in the back of her mind is Simeon’s prophecy that: “a sword will pierce your own soul.” Finally, Mary has to accept and endure Jesus’ conviction and crucifixion.

Like us, Mary could not read God’s mind. When she said: “yes” to God, she did not know where it would lead her. She did not know that Joseph would still marry her, she did not realise that parenting her child would be painful and difficult, she could not have imagined that God would allow her son to suffer a slow and agonizing death and she certainly could not have imagined Jesus’ resurrection and the movement that grew up following his death and resurrection.

Like Mary, we cannot read God’s mind. We do not know what God has in store for us. We will, like her, have moments of uncertainty and doubt. But through it all we can be sure of one thing, that if only we hold fast to God’s promise, if only we have the courage to surrender ourselves entirely to God, not only will our lives work out for the better, but our very surrender to God will contribute to the salvation of the world and the coming of God’s kingdom.

[1] A paraphrase from Wikipedia.

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“Yes” to God

August 17, 2013

Pentecost 13 (Mary, Mother of our Lord)

Luke 2:1-7

Marian Free

May our “yes” to God, be a source of transformation for ourselves and in turn, for the world. Amen.

It must be absolutely amazing to see the desert in bloom after the rain, or Lake Eyre teeming with bird and fish life when the waters from the north fill it to the brim. To watch the dry and barren earth respond to the rain, slowly turn green and then to blossom with flowers of all different shapes, sizes and colours must be truly magical. Our spring is not as spectacular as that of cooler climes, but it is still possible to discern the changes and to observe new shoots, on trees like the frangipani as the bare winter branches respond to warmth and light. In temperate climates of course, the change is more dramatic – trees that are bare and apparently lifeless, spring into leaf, then bud and flower and sometimes even fruit. Snow covered ground parts to allow the spear-like leaves of snowdrops, daffodils and jonquils to push through, dotting the white with green until the flowers of yellow and white provide carpets of colour on a background of green grass. Nature simply opens itself to the changes in light, water and warmth and wonders result.

A pervasive image associated with God’s (positive) relationship with Israel is that of fertility  (even fecundity). The nation without God is described as barren and desolate, but its return to God will be so life-giving, that it will be like the desert blooming. The message that the prophets proclaim in many and varied ways, is that existence without God is dry, bleak and empty, but that with God, life is rich, fruitful and full. God’s love is bountiful, extravagant and limitless, for with God there are no half measures, God gives everything that he has and God gives without restraint. The Old Testament prophets insist that in order to receive that love and the abundance that God offers, Israel needs only to give up its striving for independence and to accept God’s sovereignty instead of going its own way, serving other “gods” and resisting the God of their forebears.

God’s loving goodness, while a powerful force for change, simply cannot break through a wall of resistance and stubbornness. Love needs a welcome before it can make itself at home and effect the transformation promised by the prophets.

And so it is we come to Mary who, at the turn of the eras, opened herself – heart, mind and body – to the presence of God in her life.  Mary who, despite her youth, instinctively knew that no matter the risks and the potential costs, life with God would still be infinitely better and richer than life without God. Mary, whose “yes” to God two thousand years ago, is an exemplar for our own “yes” today. Mary, whose ready submission to God’s will is a model for the surrender of our own lives to God. Mary, whose acceptance of God’s life within her, succeeded in giving God a body in which to be physically present in the world and which in turn succeeded in bringing salvation to every nation.

Beginning with nothing but Mary’s welcoming heart, God burst forth into life, taking the world by surprise and opening up new possibilities for relationship with God. What Mary illustrates and Jesus demonstrates, is that a life completely given over to God is not a life of servitude that is limited and constrained, but rather a life of freedom, fulfillment and satisfaction. What they teach us is that surrendering our all, leads not to the loss of our selves, but rather to the discovery of our true selves, the self made in the image of God, free from the impurities of our frail human existence and enlivened by the Spirit. When we give our wholehearted “yes” to God, God makes a home with us. When we give ourselves fully to God we are not thereby condemned to a life of dry, dull compliance but to a life filled with abundant joy, extravagant love and endless possibility, a life in which we are liberated to reach our full potential.

If we have not yet experienced that fullness of life that results from God’s presence in us, it may be that, unlike Mary, we are still holding something back. If we have not experienced God’s profligate love, it is perhaps because we are insisting on holding on to our independence, resisting giving our all or unwilling just yet to allow God to fully inhabit us.

God asks to come in, but will not force himself on us. It remains our choice to welcome God or not, our choice to align our lives with God, our choice to participate in God’s future hopes for ourselves and for the world.

When Mary offered God a home and opened her heart to God, she risked everything – her relationship with Joseph, her reputation and even her life. At the time, she could have had no real idea of how her life would pan out, no concept of the joy and the pain that would ensue, no inkling of the significance of her action for the future of the entire world, but, confident of God’s goodness and grace, Mary said “yes” and as a result the possibilities for the whole of humanity were expanded and enhanced.

If Mary’s “yes” made such a difference to the history of the world, who knows what our “yes” to God – collective or individual – might mean. If we have the courage to wholeheartedly say “yes” to God, the desert might bloom, injustice cease, poverty come to an end and peace reign on earth. Just one word from us might make all the difference.

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