The Challenge of Freedom
Simone Riva - “The story of the Annunciation illustrates the extraordinary gentleness of God. He does not impose Himself; He does not simply predetermine the role that Mary will play in His plan for our salvation. Rather, He first seeks her consent. In the initial Creation, of course, there was no question of God asking for the consent of His creatures, but in this new Creation, He does. Mary stands in the place of all humanity. She speaks for all of us when she responds to the angel’s invitation.
Saint Bernard describes how the entire heavenly court waited anxiously and impatiently for her word of consent, through which the marital union between God and humanity would be fulfilled. The attention of all the choirs of angels focused on this moment, when a dialogue took place that initiated a new and definitive chapter in the history of the world.
Mary said: ‘Let it be done to me according to your word.’ And the Word of God became flesh” (Benedict XVI). Today, the Church commemorates, even before the humble response of the Virgin to the angel’s announcement, the disruptive initiative of God, who chose to humble Himself to the point of seeking the assent of one of His creatures in order to carry out the great plan of salvation. The words spoken by Benedict XVI in the Basilica of the Annunciation during his trip to the Holy Land in 2009 hold all the novelty of the new Creation begun with Christ: the challenge of freedom.
We could have imagined anything except such a way of entering into human history. Not an additional commandment, not a new set of values, not another prophetic message, but a true and entirely new humanity. This new humanity began to pulse within the womb of a woman, desiring to resemble her, to become her son. It is impossible to become accustomed to the news that today’s feast brings, because it concerns each one of us.
Indeed, God also asks for our consent in order to make us new. He does not impose, as humans do, a new system that everyone should adhere to. He is not concerned with having everyone on His side at all costs or with finding wide-open doors and red carpets rolled out for His arrival. His work is freely given, and His action is truly free, without hidden motives.
And Jesus, having entered history, moves according to the same method as the Father. The womb of Mary, which is the womb of true freedom, cradles the life of Him who came to enable us to walk an authentically human path. What would our life be otherwise? What value would our ‘yeses’ and ‘nos’ have? What would become of all the discoveries we make through the challenges that reality inevitably brings? So that we might have the chance to fully embrace our humanity, the Son of God entered it without hesitation. In nine months, it will be Christmas.
If we try to place ourselves in Mary’s waiting, which began precisely with that ‘Let it be done to me according to your word,’ we might rediscover a taste for every period of waiting that life demands, for every moment given to us, and for every consent requested from us. Nothing will seem insignificant anymore. God has chosen us.”
The author has not reviewed the text and its translations.
