"And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to Thy word. And the angel departed from her" (Luke 1:38)
    This makes me think of the vitalness of Faith and the "obedience of Faith". (Romans 1:5) I have read or heard somewhere that when Paul speaks of the "obedience of faith" apart from the obviousness of it requiring something of us other than just "believing" that this "obedience" is almost another word for "faith" in the way that Saint Paul uses it here. Much the same way we would speak of the city (obedience) of Chicago (faith). There are countless instances in Scripture that point out the necessity for faith in action and the correlation between faith and obedience and the consequences of obedience (or lack thereof) to God's Will; James 2, the obedience of Abraham in the Covenants between Abraham and God in Genesis, the obedience of Jesus during His life and death are but a few examples in Holy Writ that come to mind here; Old Testament and New - we realize that this equating of obedience with faith is not just an off the cuff interpretation. If you love your spouse (we see elsewhere in Scripture the necessity for "faith working in love") and believe you owe her your fidelity you "act" accordingly right? It is love that motivates us to willingly act according to our beliefs and if we believe "as the demons do" but do not have love we will not willingly act accordingly. When we read Genesis 18 we will see how Abraham and Sarah responded to the Angel's proclamation. Abraham immediately starts interceding to God on man's behalf. Here we see the importance of the obedience of Faith that results form an authentic love of God and the correlation of the one word (obedience) to the other (faith).

    If we look in Sophonias or Zephania 2:3 we have illuminated for us the importance of the beatitudes - especially humbleness and meekness that many "types" or foreshadowing's of Mary embodied during the course of salvation history. Women like Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Miriam, Deborah, Hannah, Judith, Esther and Elizabeth come to mind.

    In Genesis 18:14 we see why "all generations will call Mary blessed" (Luke 1:45). At least the part of all generations that has the Catholic faith. For Mary, by her obedience of Faith became the mother of Jesus and mother of the mystical body of Christ, His Church. John 19:26-27. The Incarnation which is the conception of Christ in His Human Form can be considered analogous to conception of His Mystical Body, which is the Church that is symbolized by the blood and water flowing from His side on the Cross much as the birth of the Church is the Pentecost in that after the tongues of fire descended on Mary and the Apostles the immediate result was for Peter to have 3000 baptized who would now be members of this Church forming the mystical body of Christ. All must understand that just as there was One Christ, so there is one Church with one Faith. There cannot be contradictory beliefs within the Mystical Body of Christ. Pray that more people who call themselves Christian will one day understand this.

    Most importantly for us, I believe, is our obedience to the will of God (John 9: 31) and what might result if we are not obedient. For disobedience to God could be likened to "the disobedience of sin" for disobedience to God is sin as Adam, Eve, Satan and so many others can testify. They believed but did not act in accordance with their belief which ultimately led to a bad result (John 5: 14) much suffering; and in Satan's case – eternal damnation.

    Once the Blessed Virgin learns of God's plan, our Lady yields to God's will with prompt obedience, unreservedly. She realizes the disproportion between what she is going to become - the Mother of God - and what she is - a woman. However, this is what God wants to happen for with God nothing is impossible; therefore no one should try to stand in His way whether it is through fornication, contraception, abortion or any other sin (or disobedience to the Commandments inherent in the Natural Law and written on the hearts of those who have not destroyed their conscience through long-term sinful lifestyles) to the degree it is possible for us to avoid in our fallen human nature. So Mary, combining humility and obedience, responds perfectly to God's call:


"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to Thy word."