Mary as the model of discipleship is on display in today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel. In a mystical encounter, the angel Gabriel shared with Mary that she would bear the “Son of the Most High” (Lk 1:32). Mary heard clearly what Gabriel said though she did not fully comprehend. Who would? So Mary asked, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man” (Lk 1:34)?

This is a different question than what Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, asked of Gabriel in a similar situation: “How shall I know” (Lk 1:18)? Zechariah was looking for a sign, he sought proof. Mary through her faith in God hoped to understand, so she combined her faith and her reason, while she pondered Gabriel’s response, the whole of the cosmos held its breath for her response.

When Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38),  a weary world, wounded by sin exhaled with relief for the long awaited savior could now come to redeem what had been lost. Mary, in her obedience, undid the Sin of Origin committed by Adam and Eve in the disobedience.

May we ponder Mary’s yes today and what that means for us. May we be true disciples like Mary, and resist a knee jerk reaction of rejecting outright what we do not understand and choose instead to ponder the things that are beyond the sensate realm. May we too seek understanding instead of demanding proof. This is not a practice in limiting ourselves to mere superstition but an embracing of the fullness of what it means to be human. We are physical as well as spiritual and we can come to a deeper understanding of reality, and come to experience that which is Good, Beautiful, and True, when we access, as did Mary, the fullness of our faculties as people of faith and of reason.

Photo: Grotto at Rosary Garden, St Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL

Link for today’s Mass readings:

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120817.cfm