Like Mary we say Yes!

Today, the 4th Sunday of Advent our attention rightly turns to Mary. It only makes sense to look to a pregnant woman 5 days before the birth of her child, but Mary is much more. Mary is the Mother of God, but she is also the Model for all believers. From Mary we can learn to be faithful followers of Jesus and his gospel message. What is it like to be a believer like Mary? It means to say yes. The Angel appeared to Mary, a 12 year old virgin and said, “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will name him Jesus.” And Mary said Yes! The Angel said, “he will be great and called Son of the Most High.” And Mary said yes! The angel said, “God will give him the throne of David his father, he will rule over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end.” And Mary said yes! Yes, Mary questioned the angel. “How could this be?” She was only a12 year old virgin. And the Angel explained how this could be, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” And Mary said yes! The Angel said, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” And Mary said yes! The angel went on to say that Elizabeth, Mary’s elderly cousin was also pregnant. How is this possible Mary wondered and the Angel said, “Nothing is impossible for God.” And Mary said, ““Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary said yes, and because she said yes the miracle of Bethlehem took place. So we come together today not to just marvel at the great gift of the Virgin Mother we come to follow in her footsteps. We come together to say yes! To all that God is asking of us. We say “yes” to God without knowing where our obedience will take us. We don’t have all the answers but we follow the humble Virgin Mary who knew to say yes even though she didn’t know where that yes would lead. Think of the important “yes’s” in your life. When you said, “I do at the altar.” You didn’t know where that yes would lead. When you said yes to have children, you had hopes but no surety but you still said yes. When you said yes to school, to a new job, to caring for someone who was sick. When you said yes to immigrant to this country. And yes we questioned, “How can this be?” “I am too young, too old, too poor, I don’t have the education, I am immigrant.” We wondered how it would be possible to do what God was asking of us. And we were reminded that nothing is impossible for God. So like Mary we say yes, be it done unto me according to your word. This year especially we have faced a lot of unknowns. This year of all years we have had to say yes in complete humility. We don’t know so in humility we try to listen to God’s voice. We are more concerned with proclaiming the Gospel than having everything figured out and explained to us. To be a wife or a mother, a father or a husband, a son or a daughter, student, essential worker to be a priest to be a Christian. To be a follower of Jesus you have to be able to forget about yourself. Mary didn’t know what the Angel was asking of her but she said yes. We also don’t know what is asked of us as we follow Jesus but we say yes. As we say yes, the miracle of Bethlehem takes place once again and we announce to the world that it is full of grace and the Lord is with us.