Saying Yes to God: Learning from Mary’s Brave Love

Blog by Gem Fadling

God initiated our love relationship by creating humankind and lovingly outstretched his arms to us in Jesus. He is our first and foremost example of overflowing, specific love…Emmanuel, God with us.

We know that Jesus was divine as the Son of God, and that his humanity came through Mary, the woman chosen by God to bring him into the world. In this reflection, I’d like to look at love through the eyes of the woman who carried Jesus from conception to birth, through childhood, and all the way to the cross.

What kind of human was Mary, and how might I shape my heart after her humble one?

A Woman of Humility, Courage, and Faith

Some years ago, I attended an Advent retreat. During one session, the speaker showed us an image of Mary learning she was the chosen one—the one who would carry the Messiah. It was a beautiful depiction by Henry Ossawa Tanner entitled The Annunciation.

The portrait captures the humble heart of Mary.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” (Luke 1)

This is the kind of woman I want to be…humble, listening, and responding with grace. Certainly, she was fearful, but that did not deter her from saying yes to God’s invitation.

Later, while visiting her cousin Elizabeth, Mary burst forth in a song of faith about the child she was carrying:

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me—holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.” (Luke 1:46–50)

Mary saw the larger story, even from the beginning. She may not have known all the details, but she willingly entrusted herself to God’s that would span generations.

A Woman Willing to Give It All

Mary’s humility was matched by her courage and willingness to give everything to God’s plan. I’d like to share an excerpt from The Reed of God by Caryll Houselander, which so poignantly depicts Mary’s part in Jesus’ humanity:

“To Give Human Nature to God”

Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

The world around her must have been filled with more than its usual beauty, for she was gathering it all to the making of her son.

He was completely her own, utterly dependent upon her: she was his food and warmth and rest, his shelter from the world, his shade in the sun—the four walls and roof of his home.

It must have been a season of joy, and she must have longed for his birth, but at the same time she knew that every step she took brought her little son closer to the grave.

Each work of her hands prepared his hands a little more for the nails; each breath she drew counted one more toward his last.

In giving life to him, she was giving him death.

All other children born must inevitably die; death belongs to fallen nature. The mother’s gift to the child is life.

But Christ is life; death did not belong to him.

In fact, unless Mary gave him death, he could not die.

Unless she gave him the capacity for suffering, he could not suffer.

He could only feel cold and hunger and thirst if she gave him her vulnerability to cold and hunger and thirst.

He could not know the indifference of friends or the bitterness of betrayal unless she gave him a human mind and a human heart.

That is what it meant to Mary to give human nature to God.

This much is clear to me: Mary was a loving young woman, willing to hear and respond to God’s invitation to bring Jesus into the world. I long to be the same, don’t you?

God honored Mary by allowing her very human nature to give life to Jesus in all its fullness, including the difficult parts.

My prayer for all of us is that we would experience love through both what God gave in his divinity and what Mary gave in her humanity. May we each bring Jesus to others with that same humility, courage, and faith.

Reflection 

• What kind of human was Mary, and how might you shape my heart after her humble one?
• Turn your heart toward God and affirm that you are his servant, open to his desires for your life.
• Open yourself to the unknown. Say yes to what you can see, and trust God with what is not yet seen or known.