Open to Life: Mary in Scripture

Mary is the perfect example of what it means to be open to life. She was a young girl, recently engaged, when she is visited by the angel Gabriel. We say that so casually – “she was visited by an angel” – like it was a normal occurrence. “She was visited by a friend, her father, her sister, etc.” To say that the experience would have been shocking is an understatement. Mary was not only visited by a being that lives on an entirely different plane of existence from us, she also interacted with it, talked with it, questioned it. The angel’s opening greeting (if you can call this admonishment a greeting) is “Don’t be afraid.” You don’t say something like that unless there is reason for fear. You don’t tell someone “don’t be afraid” when presenting them an ice cream cone or asking if they would like to sit with you at lunch (at least I hope you don’t have to). No, Mary would have startled at best, perhaps panicked, certainly stopped in her tracks.

Mary’s willing submission to the angel’s proposal is the culmination, rather than the start, of her openness to life. Mary already had a relationship with God, she was a prayerful person, she, who was immaculately conceived, had perfectly aligned her will with God’s throughout her whole life. Mary’s “yes”, her fiat, to carry Jesus within her demonstrates what it means to welcome life wherever and whomever it comes from.

How am I inspired by Mary’s “yes” in my own life? How can I say my yes to God today?