When I think of our Blessed Mother, I think of a lady with extraordinary wisdom. The wise exist to instruct us. What does Mary teach us on this, the day of the Annunciation? Mary said “yes” to God, while Eve said “no.” She assented to the Will of God, while Eve opposed that Divine Will. What characterizes Mary’s wisdom? The answer is her awareness of the obedience required to consent to the Divine plan. In other words, she knows what is truly important.
Times of crisis, like the one in which we are living now, teach us a lesson about what really matters in life. Mary’s example informs us about what is necessary. Consider the circumstances of the Annunciation. Mary is a virgin, betrothed to a man named Joseph, living in Nazareth. She is humble and obscure, yet God has chosen her from the beginning to be the mother of the Redeemer. How the message of Gabriel must have startled her! “Therefore,” Gabriel proclaims, “the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). She must have been tempted to fear not because God’s Will was foreign to her but because she truly wanted to do God’s Will. What superb humility in face of the sheer grandeur of the Divine Will! She would be the last person to consider herself a “favored one” (Luke 1:28), but this is exactly what she is.
“May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). With those words she concludes the audience with Gabriel. She has the last word, and it is “yes.” She knows what is necesssary, the Will of God alone.
Look beyond the trials of the present age to what is really important. See the wisdom Mary left us as an example to follow.