This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
Considered as a whole, the event of Jesus’ life, death, and Resurrection was the defining moment of human history.
Today’s solemnity commemorates its beginning in time.
This day, and the entire event of Jesus’ time on earth, is summarized well by the psalm: “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”
Jesus is sent by the Father to take on flesh. His act is not defined as much by Incarnation, birth, death, Resurrection, as it is by this one word: Obedience.
It is Jesus’ obedience that saves us. As the second reading proclaims, “As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.”
We often focus on Mary on this day, and rightly so, for she is the focal person in the gospel of the day as well. But this day, the day of the Incarnation of the Word in her womb, is about the heroic obedience of the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Son of God Almighty, on our behalf.
Mary’s obedience, the obedience of pure creature without divine nature, perfectly mirrors her Son’s, which is why she is called the new Eve. She reverses the disobedience of the first Eve, with her “Fiat” (Latin for “May it be done”): “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
The story arc of the human race may often seem to us one of success and failure; power and weakness; war and peace; romantic love, hatred, and indifference. But the story arc of the human race, the breathless drama that continues to our day, is one of disobedience and obedience.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to help you to focus with laser precision on the sole focus of His life, that is, obedience to the will of God. Ask Him to help you to avoid the distractions brought by temptation to sinful pleasure and temptation to the mental complications that come with pride. Ask Him to fill you with the simple joy shared between Him and His mother, the joy that comes with unconditional obedience.
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