I am offering this Mass today for the people of Ukraine and the people of Russia and for the conversion of Vladamir Putin.
Today’s solemnity celebrates a definitive step along the journey of salvation. The divine plan comes to fulfillment in the prophecy of Isaiah through the surrender of two people – the obedient surrender of Jesus leaving the Father’s side to become one of us; the obedient surrender of Mary as she expressed her own fiat. Mary’s obedience and her docility to God’s word opened the door to the ‘yes’ of Jesus, which was the surrender of his own life, ultimately leading to his death on a cross.
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Surrender
What do we mean by ‘Surrender’? To yield to someone or something; full submission to someone or something. This can be very scary at times. There is the fear of the unknown and it can be paralyzing. From a Christian perspective it can be described as the process of letting go of “our way” and choosing God’s way instead. A surrender of our will. In other words, not what I want, but what God wants for me.
I think we all believe that we should surrender our wills to God. Yet, perhaps the greatest crisis we ever face is in fact, the surrendering of our will. The question we must answer is: "Are you/I willing to pay the personal cost it requires in a complete surrender?"
Surrendering to the will of God always has a cost to it. This is perhaps where the fear comes in – fear of the unknown. Perhaps it brings questions that don’t seem to have an answer.
In Mary’s case, we heard, “But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” But haven’t we all found favor with God, as his beloved children?
What did Jesus say? “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me; still, not my will but yours be done.”
Jesus surrendered to the Father’s will because he was aware of his identity as the Beloved Son. He too, had favor with God.
God does not impose himself
God does not impose himself. God did not simply pre-determine that Mary would respond to his plan for our salvation. God first sought her consent. And Mary said, “I am a maidservant of the Lord. Let it be done to me as you say.”
Based upon Mary’s response, there must have been a deep sense of surrender and trust and honor and hope and dependence and faith. Because of her relationship with God, her faith overcame any fear as she surrendered her heart, her will and her body to God’s invitation. It was God’s initiative and Mary’s response. God never forces a person to surrender, and He never begs. He patiently waits until that person willingly yields to Him. Yes, he is waiting for our deeper surrender.
God’s fidelity is a great mystery, and in human terms, it makes no sense. God’s invitation to Mary, and Mary’s “Yes”, is a great mystery, and in human terms, it makes no sense. Mary’s “yes”, both on a human level and spiritual level, led to a surrender in love, a surrender to Love itself, and for the sake of love. She must have known the ramifications of conceiving a child outside of marriage. In her “yes”, she lived in the mystery of the unknown as she pondered all of these things in her heart.
We are called his beloved
We should reflect often upon our faithfulness and our surrender. But the Incarnation is about the Father’s faithfulness, his fidelity to us sinners, weak and poor, who are in great need? We are called his beloved even though we’ve done nothing to deserve it, or earn it. This is the Father’s faithfulness and fidelity to us.
How do you and I respond to a love so deep……a fidelity so rich? How do you and I respond to God’s faithfulness? A heart that deeply knows the love of the Father in Christ Jesus will not fear in giving his/her life away, and the greater our surrender will be.
This feast day is important for us today, because of what it reveals. What happened in Nazareth is about the love and faithfulness of God intervening into a broken and fallen world, bringing to us salvation through Mary.
As we know, there are many titles given to Our Lady. Two of them are Our Lady Queen of Peace and Our Lady of Hope. As we gather today, she is an example and model for us and for the people of Ukraine. She is a model of perseverance in the face of great struggles and hopelessness in life. She continually offers her Son Jesus as the source of her Hope, and as the source of our Hope.
We ask that this hope and love, through Mary, be poured out upon the broken and fallen world in Ukraine and Russia – as we now consecrate Ukraine and Russia to Immaculate Heart of Mary.