Friday of the Third
Week of Advent
(Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke 1:26-38)
It is said that a military commander may not send troops on
a “suicide mission” without their consent.
A society can conscript a person into the army as a matter of the common
good. The common good may further
dictate that the conscripted soldier enter combat with the possibility, but not
the surety, that he or -- we may add -- she may die in action. If, however, there is near certainty that the
soldier will be killed, the military should obtain his/her permission since
soldiers are enlisted to give their service, not their lives.
In this gospel of the Annunciation, God gives to the Virgin
Mary a similar prerogative to withdraw from his plan of salvation. Although the passage uses the declarative
mode “you will...,” the angel waits for her consent. She is free to refuse to cooperate with the
heretofore unheard of plan of conceiving a child by the Holy Spirit to give
Israel its long-awaited Messiah. In a
famous homily, St. Bernard of Clairveaux pictures the world hanging on Mary’s
word. Of course, she expresses willingness
and thus advances the process of the Incarnation.
As God does not force Mary to participate in His plan of
salvation, He does not force us to accept it.
We are free to say “no.” For
sure, it is a conscious choice since salvation requires self-denial. In one way or another we have to follow Jesus
to the cross. But the way is not so onerous
as it is liberating. We may think of it
as a mountain hike. The more we climb,
the freer we feel until we reach the exhilaration of having reached our goal.
