So Be It!

Gospel Reading | Luke 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God

to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,

of the house of David,

and the virgin's name was Mary.

And coming to her, he said,

"Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you."

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.

Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,

and you shall name him Jesus.

He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,

and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,

and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,

and of his kingdom there will be no end."

But Mary said to the angel,

"How can this be,

since I have no relations with a man?"

And the angel said to her in reply,

"The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.

Therefore the child to be born

will be called holy, the Son of God.

And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,

has also conceived a son in her old age,

and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;

for nothing will be impossible for God."

Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.

May it be done to me according to your word."

Then the angel departed from her.

Personally, I've always had a special attachment to this story, the story of the Annunciation. I loved it so much that it actually influenced me to choose St. Gabriel the Archangel, the angel in this story, as my Confirmation saint.

This might seem like a simple enough story -- just two people involved, in a humble home, having a conversation -- but there's so much we can learn from both Mary and the Angel Gabriel.

Let's start with Mary. Mary, as holy and sinless as she was, was surprised by the appearance of an angel in her home. She would have had no way of anticipating this visit or being asked to become the mother of God. The angel's message to her completely threw off life as she knew it. Suddenly, at age 14 (or possibly even younger, according to some sources) and unmarried, she was asked to physically bring God into this world. I know I definitely wouldn't have been ready for such a huge responsibility at age 14.

Regardless, after just one logistical question, she welcomed God's plan and accepted the role He had given to her. Her "yes", her agreement to do whatever God had planned for her, is commonly known as the fiat (Latin for "so be it"). Through this fiat, she taught us a few different virtues: humility, trust, and obedience.

Humility, often misunderstood to mean "thinking badly of yourself", simply means to recognize that sometimes other things are more important than your own comfort. Mary knew she was risking a lot, and she didn't fully understand why or how she was supposed to carry out this special mission. That didn't stop her, though, from recognizing that God's plan for all of humanity relied on her at that moment... that knowledge pushed her to take a leap of faith and agree to become part of something much greater than herself.

How many times does pride stop us from doing the same thing? We may not have as big of a task as Mary had, but in smaller ways, we all go through the same situation at some point in our lives. What might God be asking you to do that requires humility on your part?

Next, trust. This one naturally connects to the humility Mary showed. Mary could still have been as humble as she was and still rejected God's proposal out of plain fear. It took an insane amount of trust to be able to say "yes" to something so huge. She left behind the life she knew and was comfortable with, knowing she would face challenges she couldn't even imagine, because she ultimately trusted in God more than anything.

It's so easy to be protective of ourselves, and rightfully so... but at the same time, we need to acknowledge that we are not God. God is the only one who knows how things are going to turn out, who wants to give us opportunities to live up to our full potential. In what ways do we rely too much on ourselves and not enough on God?

Lastly, obedience. Knowing that God had a much bigger plan for her than she could ever imagine, and recognizing that she was not God, Mary obeyed God's request. She was perfectly sinless and had never disobeyed God in her life. If she could go 14(ish) years living in line with God's requests, why would she change that now? A lifetime of saying "yes" to God in small ways prepared her for her ultimate "yes", the fiat that changed the course of human history and redemption.

It's easy to think that "baby sins" here and there, little things that say "no" to God, don't have much effect on us. In the same way that a lifetime of saying "yes" in small ways prepared Mary for her fiat, though, a lifetime of saying "no" in small ways makes it easier for us to say "no" in larger, more serious ways... and then we end up disobeying God in ways we never anticipated. Where in our lives now can we get used to saying "yes" to God so we can be prepared to say "yes" when He calls us to something greater?

And, of course, we can't forget about St. Gabriel. He is most commonly known for his role as God's messenger. He had the noble task of relaying this life-changing message to Mary. He brought the promise of joy to the world by carrying out this task. I chose him as my Confirmation saint because I wanted to do the same thing -- be God's messenger and bring joy to the world. A task like this, what we call a vocation (or what we're called to do with our lives) is that "something greater" we will each be called to at some point in our lives as Catholics; the call we need to prepare ourselves now to say "yes" to later.

So, to conclude, here's the big question:

What vocation do you feel God is calling you to give your own "fiat" to?

Share your thoughts in the comments!

(To complement the Gospel, read the First and Second Readings below!)

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First Reading | Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10

The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying:

Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God;

let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!

But Ahaz answered,

"I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!"

Then Isaiah said:

Listen, O house of David!

Is it not enough for you to weary people,

must you also weary my God?

Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:

the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,

and shall name him Emmanuel,

which means "God is with us!"

Second Reading | Hebrews 10:4-10

Brothers and sisters:

It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats

take away sin.

For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said:

"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but a body you prepared for me;

holocausts and sin offerings,

you neither desired nor delighted in." These are offered according to the law.

Then he says, "Behold, I come to do your will."

He takes away the first to establish the second.

By this "will," we have been consecrated

through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.