With the recent beginning of the season of Advent, my thoughts naturally turn towards Christmas. In the Gospel of St. Luke we find the 'Christmas story' starting with the sending of an angel to Mary and 'the Annunciation'. I'm not sure about where the story is commonly understood to begin, but I tend to see it as beginning with the Annunciation.
Here's how it goes down... The angel Gabriel visits Mary with some incredible news: she is to give birth to the Son of God, whose kingdom will have no end. She is understandably confused and wonders aloud how this could be possible - young though she is, she does know how babies are made and quickly realizes that she hasn't met the normal criteria for such things. When the angel responds by telling her that all things are possible with God, she responds with some of the most beautiful words to be found in Scripture: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
[For some reason I always imagine Mary speaking Latin. It's strange how I think of such things: Mary spoke Latin, Jesus spoke Aramaic, the Apostles all spoke Koine Greek, and Yahweh some ancient proto-Hebraic, Semitic tongue. But of course it was not this way at all.]
"Let it be to me according to your word". When told that she will be intimately involved in the single most important event that will ever take place in the entire history of the world (I'm envisioning the Incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection as the inseparable 'Christ event' here), she simply responds with humble submission to the will of God. She models the Christian life and sets the example which all Christians hence forth are to follow. Within five words (six in the original Greek text if you include the definite article), Mary manages to express the deepest cry of the Christian's heart.
I (like many) have often struggled with prayer. There tends to be no shortage of distractions which draw me away from it or 'reasons' why I'm too busy or tired. Often it is simply a matter of the heart - I'm lazy, weak, and rebellious. It is at times like these that my eyes turn to Mary and I speak the words with my mouth that my heart longs to voice: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. I let her words become mine; I let her example guide me. Just as God's plan of salvation for the lost human race included the humble submission of Mary, so to does His plan of salvation for me include that same humble submission to His loving will.
This Advent season, as I think about the miracle of the Incarnation and the wondrous love that was revealed so long ago in Bethlehem, I also think about the humble submission and trust that was involved in bringing it about.
BEAUTIFUL!
ReplyDelete