“The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore, the holy child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative, Elizabeth, is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child; and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.” Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.” And the angel left her.

Reflections
BE IT DONE UNTO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD.
If we reflect on the context of these words of Mary, we are astounded how a young girl of about 15 or 16 could utter these words of total surrender and to what? To become an unwed mother. If now, there is so much shame felt by young teenage girls who find themselves in such a situation. What more in the time of Mary. Just to be a mother at 16 is a great burden, how much more if one would be judged to be an unwed mother. She could not even open up to Joseph. Joseph had to learn it from a dream. This total surrender of Mary at such a young age will be her permanent and constant attitude in the years to come. As we will see in the following years, she would experience things she could not understand – all related to her son and we read like a refrain: AND SHE KEPT ALL THESE IN HER HEART. So her whole life was a FIAT — BE IT DONE UNTO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD. Mother Mary, pray that we, too, may be able to follow your example and say FIAT to the things that happen and will happen in our lives.

© Copyright Bible Diary 2018