The Annunciation: Mary Says Yes!
Project 2
Materials
Read the Following
Entering the Scene:
In this picture from the chapel, the scene is very stylized. Note, for instance, that the column on the right side of the picture is architecturally perfect. The floor is tiled and there is a scroll sitting on an intricately made stand. In Nazareth, at the time of Jesus, it is very unlikely that any column like this would have existed. Mary’s home would not have had a checkerboard tile floor or anything more than a plain, sturdy table in it. There is almost no chance it would have contained a scroll of any kind.
If these things were present anywhere in Galilee, they would have been at the Synagogue, not at the home of someone with the status of Mary. Remember from Assignment #1 that Mary and Joseph are not royalty. They are a carpenter and his betrothed who hail from an unimportant province. Jesus did not come into the world in a state of wealth but in a state of spiritual and material poverty that He shared with His parents.
The point is that God sent His angel to where Mary was. She would have received Gabriel in her own very modest home. She was about the same age as you are right now and, if you make some adjustments for the time warp, she would have been a typical teenager in her time. We might even imagine that in her modest room, her dirty clothes were scattered across the floor at the time the Angel made his visit.
We could see Gabriel popping in, looking around the room, giving a little smile, and thinking to himself, “Really, this is who you chose?” Perhaps part of why Mary was troubled is that she was not prepared for a visit from an Angel. Who is? Imagine Gabriel waiting patiently before he begins to speak as Mary scurries around tidying up.
So, if you want to place yourself in the scene, you can think about being in Mary’s humble home, but you could just as easily put yourself in your own bedroom and imagine what it would be like to have an Angel suddenly appear to you there. How troubled would you be if this were to occur?
Assignment
Mary had a choice. If she had said “no,” God would not have forced himself upon her. As we stated above, we are always being called by God. I am sure I have been called hundreds of times when I missed it completely, especially when I was Mary’s age or a little older. I can also tell you that there are numerous times when I heard the call and said “no” anyway, even if that manifested itself as nothing more than good intentions that were never followed up by meaningful actions. But I can also tell you that there are a couple times when I did hear the call, and I did say “yes.” One of those times was when my first child was born. I said “yes” and met a Sister at St. Mary’s who taught me to pray by entering the scene and that changed my life completely. Up until then, I did not have an active prayer life and did not even attend church regularly. Another time was when I answered the call to investigate the life of a Secular Franciscan, which is where I learned how to put together a reflection like this and found the inspiration to write “The Servant King.”And yet another time was when I had only two children and thought I was done, but I could not resist the idea that I should ask my wife to be open to a third. That particular “yes” resulted in the birth of Aidan, which is how I find myself writing this reflection in the first place.
As you consider these questions, think about how you might be called to say a “yes” of your own.
Think again about the Nativity of Christ. Think about that night in Bethlehem, about Jesus being laid in a manger in the open air. Remember that Mary and Joseph are normal, humble, everyday people. Do you think one of the reasons that Mary was able to give such a resounding “yes!” was the very fact that she was not a princess living in a palace? If she had been, what kind of worldly impediments might have been in the way of her “yes?” What are the equivalents in your life that might stand in the way of giving an enthusiastic “yes” to whatever God might be calling you to?
When Mary gave her “yes,” she did not know what the future held. When Denise and I said “yes” to the possibility of Aidan, we never imagined the loss we would be asked to endure.
3. In hindsight, we can weigh the cost and benefits of Mary’s “yes” in terms of the heartache she experienced during her Son’s Passion and the Joy of His Resurrection. Think about the life experience of Mary as a whole. Do you think she regretted saying “yes?” Or do you think she was able to look back on her life and feel unconditionally joyful even if the thought of the Passion still caused her sadness? If Mary was able to be joyful in the end, how does this inform how we think about the loss of Aidan or someone else we loved? Can we be joyful about their place in eternity even if the memory of their loss still makes us sad? Are we able, like Mary, to say our own “yes” even though we can guess that hardship will probably accompany our joy?
4. Think about how intimately Mary was united to Jesus. She literally carried Him in her womb. Recall that Jesus dwells within you as well, even at the times you are sinful. You are as intimately united to Jesus as Mary was. As you move through daily life, you are also responsible for birthing Jesus into the world via the actions you take. God prepared Mary to be the Mother of Jesus by bestowing graces upon her, including her Immaculate Conception. Mary responded to these graces with a complete and perfect “yes.” This led to the Joy of the Resurrection of Christ. She acquiesced to God’s Will and the world was changed forever. Could the combination of your gifts and your “yes” also change the world in some small but significant way? If so, will your reward also be joy? Imagine Mary now, seated in Heaven, able to dwell within the Joy of the Resurrection. Is God, in His immense love for you, offering you the same opportunity? Will you one day dwell in Heaven and look back on your life with unimaginable joy, knowing that you took the gifts that God bestowed on you, followed His Will for your life, and changed the world in the small but significant way that He asked of you?