Craig Pittelli
“I am the Handmaid of the Lord” by Melanie Blaszczak, Fiat Ventures
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Has God ever asked you to do something? Maybe not in an audible way, but have you ever had something that just kept gnawing at your conscience? Maybe you weighed the pros and cons first before you decided whether to act on it or not. I have a very specific memory of a situation like that where I had to decide whether to say, “yes” or “no” to God.
It was a normal morning where I woke up and went to Mass with my roommates, but I wanted to stay after on that particular day to pray a little more. As I was finishing up I heard someone come into the church and sit in the back. I gathered my things and packed up and as I was leaving I looked at the person sitting in the back and it was a disheveled woman who had tears streaming down her face. My heart broke for her as I passed by but as soon as I got to the door something in me shifted. I knew it was the Holy Spirit pushing me to go and talk with this woman. To be honest, I was afraid of approaching her. I started to weigh the outcomes but above all of that this overwhelming feeling kept pulling on my heart. In that moment I made a decision and I said, “yes” to God. I was able to have a conversation with the woman, and I never saw her again, but I have a feeling that at least at that moment in her life, she needed my “yes” to God, to talk to her and be a listening ear.
That was a very small example of saying “yes” to God, but in this Sunday’s Gospel reading from Luke, we see the story unfold as Mary was approached by the angel Gabriel and asked to become the Mother of God. In the reading we notice that Mary at first was very troubled at was said to her and she pondered it in her heart. The angel, Gabriel went on to speak about how her son, Jesus, would be called “Son of the Most High”. Mary in her very humanness then asks a practical question; “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” That question shows that Mary had feelings and emotions just like we do, but her faith was stronger than that. We know how this story ends because Mary, the Mother of God, pushed aside all of the questions and concerns and in that moment she made a decision and she said, “yes.” That “yes” has echoed from generation to generation because with that very simple yes, Mary changed the course of salvation. From her womb she conceived the Messiah, Jesus.
Today let us look to Mary, our Mother as a prime example of what happens when you say yes to God. With courage and faith let our hearts be firm in our decision to always trust in God and his promises. For he is a faithful father! When things seem impossible or we lack the courage to stand by our faith, let us ask Mary to help us make the same decision she did; to pursue God’s plan for our lives rather than our own. Mary’s “yes” to God’s plan affected not only her life, but the lives of those in all generations. Our own “yes” to God can have an amazing ripple effect on the world around us as well. So let our hearts cry out the same reply Mary gave to God; “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
