(Sharing at the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help on 13 October 2012)
Dear Friends,
I wonder if the dates Oct 11th 2012 to November 24th, 2013
signify anything to all of us? I hope that these dates mean
something to all of us present here. As most of us probably already know, this period
has been declared The Year of Faith by our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.
Our Holy Father declared the Year
of Faith to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Vatican II. The Second Vatican Council was
formally opened by Blessed Pope John XXIII on Oct 11th, 1962.
In his announcement on the Year of
Faith, Pope Benedict XVI informs us that the ‘Door of Faith is always open to
us”. It is a door that we can pass through everyday, first by deepening our
relationship with the Lord and second, with all our brothers and sisters in the
Lord. He further informs us that there are two ways of entering through this
door:
1) The first is the way of ‘Content’
2) The second is the way of ‘Act’
As such, in conjunction with the
Year of Faith, the Marian Devotion Group will be participating by having some
sharing sessions on the topic of Faith, through the first door, which is the way of
‘Content’.
All of us are very familiar with the word FAITH, as we use
it often in our prayers, in our conversation with our friends, in sharings of
our experiences of life, and in many other situations. I am sure we all believe
in the gift of faith.
Faith is one of the most fundamental aspects of our
Christian life. We believe that our Blessed Virgin Mary is the perfect model of
our faith.
So what is the gift of faith?
Faith involves entrusting oneself, abandoning oneself to
God, the willingness to submit to His will and obedience in faith.
Mary as the perfect model reflects this very well. She
abandoned herself to God with total trust and in obedience in faith when she
responded “Yes” to God.
To better understand what this means in practice, we can
look at the life of Mary, whose acceptance of God’s invitation to be the mother
of His Son is a great witness for us. By examining the dialogue that took place
at the Annunciation, we can gain a deeper insight on what it means to have
faith.
Mary’s Yes to God
Mary’s journey with God was one of deep faith and great
trust. She had a grace-filled openness to the mystery of God in her life.
We are familiar with Luke’s account of the Incarnation when
the angel appeared to Mary and announced,“ The Lord is with you”( Lk:1:28)
However, before Mary responded to God, the Scripture remind us that Mary was
confused and frightened and deeply disturbed by the angel’s greeting. As Mary
was fully human she too experienced fear and doubts, similar to how any one of
us would also encounter in our lives.
She struggled to say “Yes” to the Lord! And she “pondered”
these words in her heart. Pondering is not simply a question of “thinking” or
trying to master the realities of faith or mysteries of life. It is not a
question of trying to control these realities or mysteries or reduce them to
something our minds can handle. Rather, it is a question of letting the
realities of faith be with us, to enter into us and reveal themselves to us. It
is allowing ourselves to be molded by them, to allow God’s will to become our
will. It is fostering both an attitude and atmosphere of TRUST and OPENNESS in
our lives.
It was through her dialogue with the angel, where she asks ”How
can this be? I have no knowledge of man” ( Lk1:34) and the angel said to her, ‘The
Holy Spirit shall come upon you and the power of the Highest shall overshadow
you, behold your cousin Elizabeth, she too conceived a son in her old age, who
was called barren, for with God nothing is impossible.” “Behold the handmaid of
the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.” (Lk 1:38). With these
words Mary was more assured and her fear transcended, she was able to submit
herself to the will of God.
Mary took a leap in faith. She had to let go of her plans
and say “Yes” to a life of faith. In spite of her awareness of her own
unworthiness and littleness, she had to say “Yes” to become the mother of God
and also all that it would entail. She was asked to let go of her plans and let
God take over her life. She was totally unaware what was to happen in the
future, the struggles or difficulties. However she totally trusted God and that
He will take care of all things as she surrendered in faith.
Mary’s fiat (“let it be done, as you have said” Lk 1:38)
demonstrates her complete obedience to God and to His will for her. In fact it
was by means of her fiat, her obedient faith, that “the mystery of the
Incarnation was accomplished” in accordance with God’s plan.
Similarly, sometimes in our lives too, when God comes to
invite us to make changes in our lives, to explore the inner part of our lives
which we have been very comfortable with, we too can feel perplexed or confused
just as Mary did. It is in those circumstances that we too can also engage in a
dialogue with God and with others around us. May we too, walk in faith by
allowing the Holy Spirit to lead us, just as He did for Mary.
We may not know what the outcome will be. However we can
take the leap of FAITH and TRUST that God will take care of us just as He did
for our Blessed Mother.
To conclude I would like to share this quote from our Pope
Benedict XVI for us all to reflect:
“Knowing the CONTENT to be believed is not sufficient unless
the heart, the authentic sacred space within the person is opened by GRACE that
allows the eyes to… understand that what has been proclaimed is the Word of God.”
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