The barren womb symbolized by the Blessed Mary's Virginity is made fruitful by the FIAT she uttered from the very depths of her obedient and trusting heart.
It
was said that after the fall of man and woman (Adam and Eve), God the Father
went to his Son and confide the matter and asked what is to be done. After,
some time the Son told the Father… YES Father I will go to redeem the
world. This is nothing but a story but
it tells something of man’s salvation… Here begins the world’s redemption: The
YES of God the Son to the Father. His Eternal AMEN began it all.
The theme for today’s novena is Mary’s Fiat. St. Luke’s account during the annunciation ended with these marvelous words: Ecce ancilla Domini, FIAT mihi secundum Verbum tuum. Mary responded positively to the joyful message of the Archangel Gabriel. Her response was undoubtedly joyful also, albeit it did not come easy and comfortably. Before the response came, we know that Mary was troubled at the greeting of the Angel: Hail, Full of Grace. Why did the messenger pronounce her, full of grace instead of the expected mention of her name – Mary. The angel has substituted her name with the words: full of grace. By this title the Angel Gabriel recognized her and by extension all the hosts of heaven now call her – full of grace. On the one hand, Mary know that her new identity is a revealed identity. Not invented by any other creature, not certainly her own formulation, but revealed from above. Mary is full of grace. No more no less.
Before
the FIAT, God’s highly favored one, scrutinized and asked: But how can this be,
since I do not know man. Her FIAT as I have said, did not come easy and
comfortably. She was deeply troubled and
rightly so, she had a particularly practical inquiry: But how can this
be...?
With this the heavenly messenger announced how this would come about saying:
The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be called holy and will be called Son of God.Well, I believe these words has only added to the bewilderment of Mary. Who would be ready to hear such things? What I believe that has ultimately convinced her was the recent news that her old and barren cousin, Elizabeth is now in her sixth month of child bearing. Now this make total sense. To close the Angel’s announcement, he said nothing is impossible with God. The angel has made the case convincing to Mary’s ears. Such words have aroused great faith and devotion to Mary who has already conceived the WORD in her mind, before she ever conceived Him in his womb as St. Augustine would say.
And now we come to the response of Mary.
Although Gabriel, the messenger has called her full of grace…Mary’s introduced
herself with the words: Behold, the handmaid of the Lord. At the very
outset she knows herself to be a servant - a trusting and obedient servant. She
comes to fulfill God’s message – Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.
This reminds me of St. Francis’ admonition on discerning God’s spirit – the Spirit of the Lord certainly resides in a person, if the person having been endowed with graces and gifts has placed oneself below others. One’s humility has become directly proportional to one’s giftedness. With greater gifts comes greater humility. The Blessed Mother is like this having called herself a handmaid.
The Power of Amen
At
the outset, I told a story of the eternal YES of the SON. The story is
certainly not real but imagined, nevertheless the AMEN, the FIAT, the YES of
Jesus is also seem in the Sacred Scriptures. In the Gospel of John we hear
Jesus emphatically saying: Amen, amen I say to you….There are two
instances in the New Testament that Jesus is called a YES. One, in the letter
of St. Paul and the other in the book of Revelation (3:14)[1].
Let me focus on the first. St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians says: “For in him every one of God’s promises is a
“Yes.” For this reason it is through him that we say the “Amen,” to the glory
of God.” (end of quote) Jesus himself is the fulfillment of God’s
promise. His eternal FIAT as it were has made everything else possible and with
that as St. Paul says, our every AMEN is modelled and goes through, if you will
connected to the AMEN of GOD. We say Yes in God’s name. And because of this our
YES, our AMEN becomes efficacious and divine with a small letter D on it.
Now what about Mary who in time pronounced her FIAT- let it be done. Mary has given us an example what is to be like her Son (Figlia del suo figlio). The power of her fiat takes its source and its origin from the AMEN of GOD, Jesus Christ. Mary is the perfect model of discipleship. Like the Yes of Jesus in the story, salvation has become a possibility. It has become one of us in the incarnation. Such is the power of the FIAT…it fulfills what the Angel has said,- for nothing is impossible with God.
Drama of Departure
And
the Angel left her. With these words ended the annunciation to Mary in the
gospel of St. Luke. The angel left Mary, the higly favored daughter after the
brief encounter. What to make of this. Mary is now left alone with the clear
promise of salvation. Her identity which is so singular and unheard of has been
revealed to her. And we can easily imagine Mary treasuring, contemplating all
these things in her heart throughout her life.
What about the angel. Gabriel brought with him the Yes of Mary – now the words rejoice (Chaire) which he first announced to Mary has come to full circle. Now heaven and earth are rejoicing – because both God and Man has pronounced the FIAT.
Our turn, our own FIAT
There is only one second
Person in the Holy Trinity and there could only be one Mother of Christ – the
God-Man. We expect NO new virgin-birth. It has been done. But isn’t it
marvelous or even divine (with a small letter ‘d’) that we have also our own
annunciation events. Such events may be moments of uncertainty and discomforts.
It is on these moments that God is sending us His message and waits for our
answer. Like Mary, we are given the chance to say YES, like Mary the
opportunity to clarify things are open before us. Like Mary we hear the
consoling words: Nothing is
impossible with God.
This novena in preparation for the great solemnity of the Immaculate Conception is a real encounter with the person who said her FIAT. Let it be done also to us. So be it….AMEN.
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