"The Woman in my life"

Mary: Her “fiat” as an acceptance of the cross
Luke 1:27b – 38 “The girl’s name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, “Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you...I am a virgin, How can this be? The angel answered, ‘The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God’s power will rest upon you. For this reason the Holy Child will be called the Son of God….’I am the Lord’s servant,’ said Mary; ‘may it happen to me as you have said.”

Mary and Jesus cannot be separated. When I talk about the incarnation of the Son I cannot but also talk about the mother. They are the inseparable realities of the mystery of the coming of the Son. God in his greatness has blest his creation, human being, in the person of Mary in order for us to feel his love and to understand him. Mary’s conception of the Son was an act of God out of Love for his people. Mary as the Mother, the chosen one to bear the Son of God, constitutes a necessary event in human history. It was through her womb that the Son was made. It was through her womb that the mystery was revealed. Indeed, she was “blessed among women” because she was found worthy to carry the Son of God.

Mary’s “fiat” or her yes to the message of an angel becomes the defining point of her existence as a human being. It is a conscious and heartfelt expression of willingness – obedience out of love. The fiat is her obedience to the will of God for her out of love. However, that fiat is in itself the tremendous response of human beings to God. It is through her yes that human beings receive an elevation of love to a divine act of loving. Her “fiat” is in essence her “yes” to the cross.
The cross in Mary’s fiat is the reality of the Son – Jesus Christ. It was through her willingness to submit herself to the responsibility of bearing the Son of God that manifest her own kenosis – Mary has emptied herself and allowed God to fill her with the love that could understand the greatness of God’s will. Mary underwent dying from herself in order to live for God – at the end it has no longer she who lived but Christ.

The cross was Mary’s Son and her fiat meant an acceptance of the cross and the multitude of its meaning. This is a reality greater than Mary but her love conquered them all, in fact, she kept everything in her heart. The proof of this was seen in the whole story and history of Jesus as he was once with us. Mary was there and was firm in her response that began at the foot of an angel Gabriel in the annunciation until at the foot of Jesus on the Calvary. Mary undoubtedly lived her life with Jesus and on Calvary she died with her Son. But again, Mary must have understood gradually the mystery of Jesus from the moment of his birth until he breathed his last on the cross. The death of the Son became the death of the mother. Her death together with her Son was a necessary event in her life so she too could rise with Jesus in the resurrection. Indeed, it was through her death that she was brought to life by God and with God. But everything was all kept in her heart.
As for my own experience, the way Mary lived her life and the way she made her response to God became an inspiring moment where love dominated and finally overpowered fear and uncertainties. My difficulty of accepting death as regards letting go of a beloved who died fell into my misunderstanding of birth. It was through Mary’s “yes” that allowed the Son to be brought into time and space through birth. It contained the reality of the imminent end of everything. The truth with the reality of birth is the reality of death. Thus, the example of Jesus’ passing over upon this earth reveals a greater reality that according to St. Paul “we are on this world but not for this world.” Mary’s example in accepting her Motherhood for the Son of God manifested her deep understanding of accepting everything that may come along including the suffering and pain of death. Thus, it was through her that the truth about the identity and the love of God to human being was revealed and finally brought us to the fundamental destiny that we are all destined to by God and only for God.
Being the mother of God (Theotokos), “Mary in whose womb Jesus came, is the figure and symbol of the new community that experiences this new reality of salvation. God, present in Jesus by means of woman’s flesh, is now present especially in those suffering poor and marginalized in history. In and by the flesh of Mary, God has entered our world fulfilling the prophecy that ‘all humankind shall see the salvation of our God’ (Luke 3:16). Mary’s motherhood, then, is not just bearing of Jesus’ humanity. It is the birthing of the divine power through the world itself was created.” Mary therefore became truly the Mother of God and our Mother as well. She became my mother too.
I cannot forget the image I portrayed during Advent a couple of years ago. It was a mother cradling her son. It was Mary cradling her beloved son. When I was asked about the meaning of advent by one of my friends, I told him spontaneously to go and look at Mary. There is no human being like Mary who can explain how it means to wait for the coming of the Son of God. Mary took everything in her heart.