A virtue is an attitude or a way of life to control our action and guide our conduct so that we can do the good things that God wants us to do. When we live a virtuous life, we receive inner joy, strength and peace.
“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to Your word.” We traditionally speak of this as her great “fiat” (yes) to God!
One thing we see within these words is that our Blessed Mother is offering her complete consent to something that she does not understand. Mary listened, pondered and then immediately consented to the words spoken. “Let it be done to me according to Your word”. Our Blessed Mother’s faith was one that knew the truth without having to be fully understood. This is a gift.
Mary at her annunciation models faith for us. She shows us that faith is more than assent, but is also trust, commitment, obedience, and submission. Mary trusted in God’s promises, was obedient to God’s word of invitation in her life, surrendered to the mystery before her, and committed herself to be part of God’s plan of salvation in Jesus.
Mary was a young woman of extraordinary faith. The ‘‘Yes’’ at the Annunciation was not the first “Yes” in her life nor would it be the last. The really significant yeses in our lives also demand a great amount of trust and openness. We respond to the gift of God’s call in our lives every day. We say yes in hope and trust. Like Mary we say “Yes” to something being born in us that must grow and mature and take a shape we cannot predict. We are called to that depth of faith as we contemplate the story of the Annunciation and the stories of the life of Jesus in the rest of the spiritual exercises.
Living in faith demands surrender to the stories of God and Jesus recorded in the scriptures. Christian faith especially demands that we let the stories of Jesus shape our minds and hearts. Paul Wadell says that to live in faith means that we “appropriate these stories, striving to embody their viewpoints, values, and vision as our own. To assent to the truths of faith portrayed in the Scripture is to allow them to become the interpretative framework for our world”.
God has invited us into an intimate, personal, exchange of love. When we embrace Mary’s prayer and make it our own, we allow the love that Mary bore in her body to be incarnated in and through us. Let us ask our Mother for the sovereign grace of placing us confidently in the arms of Jesus and thereupon His heart.
We need to be moulded and shaped in the attitudes and virtues of Jesus. So, let us foster our growth in the virtue of faith that empowers us to trust God and commit ourselves to service.
Sr. Justina Vaz HC