This Sunday we get to be kind of a fly on the wall during the conversation between Mary and the Angel Gabriel. We see how God calls her, we hear her questions as she discerns her way through it, and we witness her yes.

Who knows how God actually called Mary to bear the Christ and the exact words that Mary used to say yes, but what we do know is that this call and response, God’s asking and Mary’s consenting, changed the course of history – for Mary and for all of us. If Mary had said no, God could have brought it about another way, of course. But Mary said yes. And so, Christ was not only born from her body with a distinct genetic makeup and family history, but he was nurtured in her arms and raised in her home. At her table he ate his way from childhood to adolescence to adulthood. From her he learned life lessons and right from wrong. She gave him life, and she gave him a life, one in a particular family in a certain place and time.

Mary, for her part, knew what she said yes to, but not really. She knew that she was consenting to being “overshadowed” by the Spirit of God, that she would conceive and bear the child, but she really had no idea where this yes would lead. She was really saying yes to a life for herself too – an unpredictable one. She was saying yes to all the joys and sorrows that would come, the surprises and disappointments, heartbreaks and triumphs. She said yes in one moment and then moved through the life her decision built, saying yes to each small thing that came from it.

We are like Mary in this. There are some yesses that are momentous, that change the course of things, but we can’t predict how. We say yes to a life, and then we allow that life to unfold. When I said yes to entering my community, I knew what I was saying yes to, but not really. I knew I was saying yes to religious life in the particular context of my congregation, but there was no way to predict all that has unfolded in this life, the joys and sorrows, the surprises and disappointments, heartbreaks and triumphs. There was no way to anticipate how this life would change me or the ways that I would grow. When people get married or have children, change their field of study or move across the country or the world to pursue a dream, they know what they’re saying yes to, but not really. A couple dancing on their 50th anniversary is wiser than they were when they danced at their wedding, but the reason they’re dancing together is because they said yes fifty years before. At that moment, they had no idea what course their life would take, but they said yes anyway. If we want to live a life of fullness, we all have to, in one way or another, risk a yes to a life with an uncertain future and then allow that future to unfold day by day, moment by moment.

At the moment of the yes, we may be aware of the momentousness of the occasion. We may know it just got real while we’re standing at the altar professing our vows, or we may not. A life-changing yes may not happen at an altar. It may happen casually and not that thoughtfully in the moment, and we may have no idea that it’s significant until we see it unfolding or look back at it from the vantage point of hindsight. The way we read the story of Mary’s yes, it seems as though Mary knew how important her yes was, but maybe she didn’t. She, like us, had a limited human perspective. When any of us gathers up our life to hold it before God in a yes, we may or may not know we’re even doing that. It’s okay. God knows. And God, who is the one doing the asking, is there in our answer too. God is with us as we move through the life we said yes to, in our little yesses and nos we make all through our days.

As we move through this fourth week of Advent, I invite you, with me, to consider our life’s yesses. May we pray for what Mary had, her audacity or foolishness or courage, that made her say yes to God. May we, too, stay open to what God asks of us and risk when we’re called to. May we say, “Let it be done to me according to your word,” and allow all that God has in store for us to unfold. And may we step into that life full of grace.

For reflection:

Take a moment to think back to some of the things you’ve said yes to over the course of your life. How has God been present? Can you notice God as you reflect on moments of joy or peace? Can you notice God in the difficult times, the moments of uncertainty or grief or pain? How is God with you now, at this moment, this fourth week of Advent during a pandemic?

By Sister Leslie Keener, CDP

Sister Leslie Keener, CDP is the director of God Space, a community-building spirituality ministry in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. She’s a Sister of Divine Providence with a Masters in Ministry and a Certificate in Spiritual Direction and Retreats from Creighton University. She directs retreats, meets with people for spiritual direction, and serves as the vocation director for her community. She also serves on the Coordinating Council of Spiritual Directors International. She enjoys music, dancing, and meaningful conversations.