December 9: I am the Handmaid of the Lord

Immaculate Conception

Adam and Eve were created without any sin. This means that they were not burdened by selfishness or fear or unmet needs. God created the whole universe and placed them in the beautiful Garden and walked with them in the cool of the evening. He entrusted the whole created world to them, and they in turn, knowing clearly where they came from and where they were going (they came from God and were returning to God and God was taking care of everything every step of the way), entrusted themselves completely to their loving Father. They obeyed because they trusted.

The initial Covenant between God and man (like every relationship) was built on a foundation of TRUST.

The serpent tricks Eve into doubting God’s goodness and love for her. He convinces her that God is holding something back, and that if she is going to be completely happy and fulfilled, she is going to need to do the one thing she was told not to do. And she did it: she reached for what was not meant to be hers (at least not yet), ate the forbidden fruit, gave some to Adam, and everything fell apart.

They let trust in the Father’s love for them shrivel in their hearts and decided to move on without Him; and so they disobeyed, disrupting the integrity of their relationship with God, with their true selves, and with each other. And now we have to struggle to obey and work to support ourselves and eventually die and leave our mess to others. Because TRUST has been broken and disobedience has become a possibility.

Since that moment, God has been on a rescue mission to rebuild that trust so that we can know true joy and peace. Since the Original Sin, the whole of Salvation History is a plan to recover man’s trust in God’s goodness and mercy, so that we might live an abundant life.

Mary trusted. She was also born without Original Sin (because the Son of God would require an absolutely pure vessel for His first tabernacle, the Ark of the New Covenant, the new Eve, who is the Mother of all the living), and her trust is evident in her answer to the impossible proposition the Angel brings to her. “Fiat mihi,” is her queenly answer. This young girl, so beautiful and full of grace, submits in trusting obedience, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

Obedience, since the first sin, costs something. Mary knew this, and yet she never drew back from her yes, all the way to the Cross and beyond. Let us ask Mary, the sinless one who trusted wholly, to intercede for us before the Throne of Grace, that through the merits of her Immaculate Conception, we too might grow in trust and show our love for God by our obedience.

By Kathryn Mulderink