26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 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. 31 And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born[d] will be holy; he will be called Son of God. 36 And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.” 38 Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her. [Luke 1:26-38, NRSV]
[L] Annunciation with Sts Margaret & Ansanus, by Simone Martini and Lippo Memmi, 1333.
Down through the centuries, many great Christians have written on the significance of Mary in the divine plan of salvation. Saint John Paul II wrote: “Christianity is the wonder of a God who puts himself on the same level as the creature he has made.” In fact, it was He who took the “initiative”: to come into this world, He did not wait for us to earn it. Yet, He proposes His initiative, He does not impose it: He almost – we might say – asks our “permission.” The vocation of Mother of God was proposed to Mary – not imposed upon her! Saint Anselm noted: “He who could create all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary”.
The month of May is always an excellent time to engage in Marian reflection. In a previous post, we touched on faith as an important key in the Gospel of Luke, and we wrote about Mary’s faith as the element that determined the different treatments by God of her compared to Zechariah. Now, we must elaborate a little on the faith we see in Mary.
The month of May is always an excellent time to engage in Marian reflection. In a previous post, we touched on faith as an important key in the Gospel of Luke, and we wrote about Mary’s faith as the element that determined the different treatments by God of her compared to Zechariah. We must now elaborate a little on the faith we see in Mary.
- The Holy Spirit in Mary’s Discernment Process
Mary listened, struggled, and recognised in the angel’s words the will of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. She realised that the most precious fruit we can bear can only be brought about by the Holy Spirit and she submitted to the Spirit’s power: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” [Luke 1:38].
In this regard, textual evidence bears a point of prime significance. Mary could be listening intently to Angel Gabriel. She could be struggling to comprehend such an earth-shattering message. In the midst of all that she must have a load of questions she humanly wanted clarified. But, on hearing from the angel that it was the Holy Spirit who would carry out what to humans clearly seemed impossible, she at once ceased all further questions and submitted to the divine will.
This is spiritual discernment at its best, as Mary teaches us the important lesson for Christian living in five steps:
- Listen carefully to God in your life.
- Struggle to discern His will.
- Know that we need the Holy Spirit to help us bear precious fruit.
- Recognize His message.
- Submit to His will.
- Mission in Life
Mary in faith accepted and trusted God’s power to do the impossible. She teaches us a living faith that puts faith to life. Her understanding of the Christian mission in life is to co-operate with the God of mission, to be one with His will, regardless. She teaches us to not drag our feet when a mission-assignment seems too tough to succeed. Summon up enough faith, trust and courage to just get on with it. The work is ours; the result belongs to God (Mother Teresa).
What Mary did was to submit her entire existence to the will of God. This is radical submission which entails:
- abandoning herself to God, surrendering her plan for her life and yielding to God’s plan, trusting that God would do what He said.
This is “the obedience of faith” Paul talks about [Rom. 16:26]. Do we, like Mary, make room for God’s action in our personal life and stay blessed?
- Faith as the First Beatitude
The first beatitude in Luke is not “Blessed are the poor” [Luke 6:20]. Instead, it is uttered by Elizabeth at the Visitation. Filled with the Spirit herself, Elizabeth speaks of Mary who is overshadowed by the Spirit and says, “Blessed is she who has believed.” [Lk 1: 45]. This is “the blessedness of faith”.
Elizabeth’s words to Mary hold the key to the Catholic understanding why Mary is to be honored, namely, her faith. She teaches that between doubt and faith, choose faith. Believe resolutely in the goodness of God, and be blessed!
Related to this, another point of significance deserves mention. At the level of biblical scholarship (RC and Protestants), scholars agree that, at the foot of the Cross, Mary is the model of perfect faith, given to the beloved disciple John who represents all of us – the beloved followers of Christ. Jesus on the cross inaugurated the new era of the community of believers right at the foot of the cross – where his mother was given to the Church and vice versa [see John 19:26-27; Mary in the New Testament, edited by Raymond E. Brown, Karl P. Donfried, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, John Reumann].
- True Marian devotion
Marian devotion is therefore about imitating her virtues, as a child of God, a believer of Jesus Christ, in unity with God’s mission.
Mary knows her faith as gift of God’s grace. It’s all grace. She responds to Elizabeth’s praise with humble yet exuberant praise: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” [Luke 1:46-55]. All praises to her are lifted right back to God, the source of her greatness. How many of us really do that?
She leads us to keep our faith in our heart and let God provide the consolation we need. And she shows us that those who thank God even in trials turn burden into blessings.
For Christian living: Be consciously grateful always. Truly count your blessings, and give thanks. A habit that has helped Oprah Winfrey to stay grounded despite fame and wealth is to write down before going to bed three things that happened during the day for which she is grateful.
And so Vatican II [1962-65] insists on a crucial point in Marian Theology: True Marian devotion lies in the imitation of her virtues, particularly her faith (Lumen Gentium, 67). Do not only chase after apparitions and beg for cures, even though these are important.
And so, we repeat for Christian living: Marian devotion is about imitating her virtues, as a child of God, a believer of Jesus Christ, in unity with God’s mission.
Copyright © Dr. Jeffrey & Angie Goh, May 2026. All rights reserved.
To comment, email jeffangiegoh@gmail.com.
