28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. [Luke 1: 28-30, NRSV]
[L] Annunciation by Botticelli, 1489. [R] Ecce Ancilla Domini!, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1850.
On the day of the Annunciation, God burst into Mary of Nazareth’s life through Angie Gabriel. God broke into her thoughts, plans, hopes, and dreams and invited her to trust with her entire being that she would be the mother of the one who “will be great and will be called Son of the Most High” (Lk 1:32). Failing to capture the power of this stunning encounter, classical paintings on the Annunciation have mostly depicted a serene and accepting Mary. However, there are also classical art which helpfully feature realistic emotions of reluctance, doubt and confusion, even outright fear and terror on the part of Mary, as portrayed in the two works here.
It is good and human that Mary is “troubled”
It is perfectly good and human that Mary’s faith and submission are not without fear and terror. Scripture, in fact, testifies to that, as Luke supplies two important details. In one, at the angel’s greeting, Luke reports that “she was greatly troubled” [Lk 1:29]. In the other, not only was she described as terrified, but she was even greatly perplexed as well. So she asked, “How could this be?” [Lk 1:34].
By the grace of God, she could overcome her fear and perplexity and accept God’s will with her famous fiat, her “decree” commonly translated as her “yes”.
The Lord is with you
In some ways far more significant for our daily Christian living, Scripture also says something about Mary’s life for our instruction! To extract this, a bit of careful reading is required. For angel Gabriel actually says: “The Lord is with you”. He does not say what we are more commonly used to hear, that is, “The Lord be with you” which is an expression of fervent desire, or blessing that God’s presence, guidance, and support be with the recipient, especially in times of need, work, or worship. The significance of the Angel saying “The Lord is with you” points us to the reality of constant spiritual wellbeing in Mary’s life, and that in her mundane daily routine, she was already dwelling in the peace and presence of God long before His angel ever showed up.
For Christian living: Scriptures draw us to follow Mary and make a commitment to cultivate diligently in our hearts and in our daily lives the constant presence of Christ, through prayers, Bible reading, healthy Christian reading coupled with conversation on religious topics, and conscious dwelling in God’s presence. A simple but significant practice recommended by a cloistered monk to a friend of ours who is daily burdened by work in the office is to place one’s right hand over one’s heart every now and then throughout the day. This simple gesture is a conscious and intentional stirring of the body, mind, and heart towards constantly remembering God. It articulates, silently, a desire to draw near to the Source of life, to all that really matters even when the world is falling apart around us, and feeling His presence. You do not have to say anything. Just a conscious gesture. It can work wonders for you!
Let it be done to me
The world-changing significance of Mary’s Fiat (“Let it be done to me”) is well known. Without her willing acceptance of God’s will, the divine plan for salvation could not be set in motion. Perhaps an aspect of significance a little less spoken about in this regard is that what Mary did in willingly uttering her fiat has to do with her exercise of human freedom.
In salvation, God seeks human collaboration. It is not all up to God. God does not do everything. We have a role to play and this is a point that deserves to be studied well. Here is where Pope Benedict’s insights are most useful.
- “After the error of our first parents [rebellion], the whole world was shrouded in darkness, under the dominion of death. Now God seeks to enter the world anew. He knocks at Mary’s door. He needs human freedom. The only way he can redeem man, who was created free, is by means of a free ‘yes’ to his will …”
- She hesitates… asks question… God’s plan of salvation hangs in the balance. And in the captivating words of St. Bernard: Heaven and earth holds its breath!
- “This is the crucial moment when, from her lips, from her heart, the answer comes: ‘Let it be to me according to your word.‘
- It is the moment of free, humble yet magnanimous obedience in which the loftiest choice of human freedom is made.”
This element of the free exercise of human freedom is crucial for understanding how Jesus achieved our salvation. As Karl Rahner, the eminent Jesuit theologian of the 20th century, explains it, God is pleased to receive the willing sacrificial suffering and death of Jesus. His gift of creaturely freedom represents humanity freely and definitively accepts God’s offering of Godself and responds appropriately. This is the definitive contribution of Jesus the true man. In him, one human person signified that humanity acknowledged and accepted the definitive address of God to the world, and at the same time the assent of the world to this God. “God’s history thus has a human history which attains its highest point with the definitive actions of one who is the ‘absolute bringer of salvation’”. In Jesus, God’s love and will for humanity was met with absolute acceptance and obedience in love. Jesus is the one who freely “surrenders every inner-worldly future in death,” and who is thereby “accepted by God finally and definitively.” Jesus has shown the way. To the extent that we “do” what he did in remembrance of his life on earth, to that extent we too shall be acceptable by God into His Eternal Bliss.
Mary’s assent to God’s will represents her unflagging devotion and becomes a model for Christians. Furthermore, because Jesus Christ is ‘the power of God and the wisdom of God,’ Mary became known as the Sedes Sapientiae – the seat of wisdom. Mary, who bore Jesus Christ in her womb, became the Ark of the New Covenant [CCC, 2676]. So we note for spirituality, Mary could carry Jesus the Word of God in her womb because she first accepted the Word of God in her heart. She was the first Christian and she shows us that to be a Christian means, first and foremost, to have Jesus in our heart!
God is always trying to break into our lives as well. For Christian living, we let God be an integral part of our life if we give birth to “Christ the Word” in our daily lives; we become the heart of God for the world. To do that, Mary teaches us to first accept Jesus, the Word of God, into our heart. He brings forth the kingdom of God; and other things will follow.
Copyright © Dr. Jeffrey & Angie Goh, December 2025. All rights reserved.
To comment, email jeffangiegoh@gmail.com.