I love the feasts of Mary! I have loves these feasts since I was a kid but I really did not know why. She has always been there but that was it, she was Jesus mother and we all loved her but I was unsure why. There are many reasons to love the Theotokos but for me that main one is she said yes.The Angel came to her and asked her to be the mother of the Savior of the World and at a very young age, tradition says around 14, she said yes without hesitation. Her God asked something of her and she responded in the way that He knew she would.
Think about it. Here is this young woman of 14 and she is now pregnant by, wait for it, the Holy Spirit. I always wanted to be a fly on the wall in her home when she came in and told Joachim and Anna that she was with child and God was the father. Can you imagine what must have taken place? Scripture does not record it but I can only imagine that they were not happy. We know St. Joseph was not happy and he was going to put her away to avoid the embarrassment of what she had done.
So then she sets out to see her cousin Elizabeth. Walking all the way and when Elizabeth see her the baby jumps and she cries out Blessed are you among Women and Blessed is the fruit of your womb! Elizabeth did not even know Mary was with child.
So she returns to her home and her life, gives birth in a cave, looses her husband at a young age, and raises the child to be the man we know him to be. We do not see her again until the wedding at Cana where she has him make the wine out of water. We hear of her a few other times but it is not until the Crucifixion that we see her again at the foot of the cross. She watches her only son die on the cross for her as well as us. She is sad but happy at the same time as she knows that this was his mission.
The yes of this poor, single mother set the world aflame and things were never the same again. Just imagine what we could do if we just say yes to God when he asks us to do something. Mary was being asked to give birth to God’s only Son and she said yes. God is not asking that of us He simply asks us to love him, love ourselves, and love our neighbor. In comparison that is very little.
Meditate today on the yes in your life, and see what God will do for you.
