November 27, 2013 WBAS Cat Prayers & Reflections, WBAS Topics Virtues & Values, REL Seasons - Advent/Christmas, REL Asset - Prayer Card
By: Kathy Hendricks
Sometimes I wonder if the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary in the middle of the night. Not in a dream, like Joseph, but in one of those wide-awake, mid-night moments when the heart opens in ways unattainable in the midst of daylight activity. We rightly extol Mary for her willingness to obey whatever God asked. Hers was not blind obedience over which she had no say, however. Instead she exemplifies the fullest meaning of obedience through her willingness to hear what God has sent his messenger to tell her.
I confess to a bit of resistance to obedience as a spiritual practice. It stems, no doubt, from memories of childhood and, later, of parenthood in which obedience was sometimes demanded for dubious reasons. “Because I told you so,” was rarely a good answer to my children’s challenges to my authority, but I used it on occasions when patience ran short. I therefore bristle at the idea of God demanding unreasonable things from us just because he can.
Mary’s yes, however, brings a fuller recognition and understanding of obedience. The word itself comes from the Latin root, obaudire, which means to listen thoroughly. Saint Benedict included it in his Rule for monastic life because it is so crucial to communal health and harmony. As Jane Tomaine explains in her book, Saint Benedict’s Toolbox, “Those who practice obedience set aside their own concerns, plans, and tasks, even going so far as to leaving a task unfinished… in order to quickly respond to the request.” Didn’t Mary do just that? She had plans and dreams of her own, perhaps envisioning a quiet life with Joseph, when she was asked to forgo it all in order to respond to God’s great plan. She embodied the two-step process of obedience: opening oneself to the light of God’s presence and then being guided in the way of love. What better way to move through Advent, a season for watchful waiting, than by following the example of Mary and her obedient heart?
Bright Ideas
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Reflect on Mary’s role as the Mother of God and how her model of obedience inspires you during Advent. Download activities about Mary to use with your class or group.
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Download my Prayer for an Obedient Heart, and use it in your parish or home in Advent and throughout the year.
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