What if Mary had said , “No”?
In ancient Isarael when Mary met the Angel Gabriel society was different. In these times an unmarried pregnant women was subject to death by stoning. Gabriel said “Do not be afraid”. My first thought was that was easy for him to say. This was serious business. She had a right to be afraid, but somehow she went ahead and said “yes”.
Luke’s Gospel is writing these words from Mary’s first hand account. She was and is a brave women to accept the “Will ” of God. The story of the birth of Jesus could have come from no one else, but her. Mary was the witness to this part of Luke’s Gospel.
Her acceptance to the will of God changed the world from sin to salvation.
First he says, “Sacrificies and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desire not delighted in” These are offered according to the law.Then he says, “Hehold, I come to do your will” He takes away the first to establich the second. “By this “will” we have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
One of things that is evident is that it was not just Mary saying yes, but Jesus saying “Yes” to allow Himself to become human to do the Will of the Father.This is why we call Him, Savior. He opened the gates of Heaven.
What if Jesus said “No”?
Let’s not go there! Jesus and Mary said “Yes”. However, there were consequences. There was pain an suffering to each of them following the will of God in their lives.
Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!”
For us the important thing is that Jesus and Mary said “yes”.
Will we say “Yes”?
Looking at the readings for today. I want to say yes, but do I mean it. Maybe, reading this reflection we will all say yes, but actions are always louder than words.
My wife, Anna, and I had friends named, David and Geneva. Geneva had just had a masectomy, had just moved to mobile home they had just bought from a house they sold. After Geneva’s surgery, we visited them. For some reason Anna and I both had the feeling that we should give David and Geneva a windfall of $700 which we had just received. At the time we didn’t need the money but we both without debate had the feeling that we should give the money to them. They never asked for it. It was so strange that we came about this desire at the same time.
It turns out that Geneva who was recovering from breast surgery wanted a shower and their water heater broke. She had just left the hospital and all she wanted was a hot shower. They didn’t have the money but with our gift they did.
Sometimes the will of God for you or me is not so dramatic. The important thing is to be open to that “will”. Search your life and stay open to the Will of God in your life. It may include pain.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please pray with the Holy Father for the wishes of Our Lady of Fatima and pray for conversion of Russia and peace in Ukraine. Pray for Cancer victims and their caregivers.
Picture credit: “‘Annunciation’ – fresco (1605-1610) by Pomarancio (Cristoforo Roncalli, called Pomarancio, 1552-1626) – Sanctuary of Holy House at Loreto / Ancona / Marche / Italy” by Carlo Raso is marked with CC PDM 1.0. To view the terms, visit https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/?ref=openverse
