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I have been involved in and studied the Cursillo, Marriage Encounter, Charismatic Renewal, Beginning Experience, Campus Peer Ministry, and
12 Step Groups and have some knowledge of Retrouvaille. Each movement which I have studied and have been a part of have special gifts and
strengths that recommended them. However, I believe that Couples for Christ ranks among the best I have expereinced.
-- Rev. Christian More, OFM Conv, M. Div, D. Min, of the Community of St. Padua, Lorain, Ohio, USA
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Letters of Aquila and Priscilla
Posted by: CamoteQ on Thursday, November 05, 2009 - 10:09 PM
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Volume 8, Issue 11 Reflections of Jun and Jean Uriarte November 2009
May it be done to me according to your word
Lk 1:38
Our house in Unisan, Quezon is located just across the street facing the left side of the church where there are two large entrances. It is so close to the church that, if the huge doors of the two entrances are wide open, it is possible to hear Mass from our porch if one really wants to. I remember when I was a young boy I always looked forward to hearing the church bells toll at six in the evening and seeing all people pause for a brief prayer. We then prayed the Angelus:
The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary.
And she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
(Hail Mary)
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.
Be it done to me according to your word.
(Hail Mary)
The Word was made flesh.
And dwelt among us.
(Hail Mary)
Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by his passion and cross be led to the glory of the resurrection, through Christ our Lord.
In his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, Pope Paul VI praised this prayer but lamented its disappearance in modern times: “It is true that certain customs traditionally linked with the recitation of the Angelus have disappeared or can continue only with difficulty in modern life…And despite the changed conditions of the times, for the majority of people there remain unaltered the characteristic periods of the day – morning, noon and evening – which mark the periods of their activity and constitute an invitation to pause in prayer.”
Brothers and sisters, the response that often catches our attention in this prayer is, “Be it done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). This is often referred to as Mary’s “fiat” from its Latin version: “Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.” This is Mary’s “yes” to the will of God, her full acceptance of God’s plan for her as the handmaid of the Lord.
In his encyclical on the Church as the Mystical Body of Christ, Pope Pius XII talks about the three fiats of Mary. He identifies three instances in the life of Mary when she manifested her complete surrender to God’s divine purpose. The first fiat was at Nazareth at the annunciation by the angel when she accepted God’s plan to make her the Mother of the Redeemer. The second fiat occurred at the marriage feast in Cana when she accepted God’s timing for the start of the public ministry of her Son Jesus. And the third fiat happened at Calvary when she accepted God’s will as she stood at the foot of the cross and later embraced the sacrificial body of her Son after it was taken down from it.
Mary was still a very young girl, perhaps only thirteen or fourteen years old, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her in Nazareth. Coming from a devotedly religious family, Mary might have taken a vow of chastity, to remain a virgin so that she could devote her time to prayer and religious service, thus her astonished and perplexed response: How can this be, since I have no relations with a man? (Lk 1:34). Despite her young age, her astonishment and perplexity, she accepted the angel’s offer: Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus (Lk 1:31). She gave her fiat. She said yes to the will of God, she opened herself to the Holy Spirit, she allowed herself to be overshadowed by the power of the Most High: The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God (Lk 1:35).
Mary must have been already a widow when Jesus accompanied her to the wedding in Cana. Otherwise, Joseph, her husband, would have been with her rather than Jesus, her Son. She was a guest eager to help to ensure that the wedding feast would proceed well as planned. The bride and groom must have been close family friends or relatives. Thus when the wine ran short, she was the first to act. She told Jesus: They have no wine (Jn 2:3). Jesus gave an enigmatic response: Woman, how does your concern affect me? My hour has not yet come (Jn 2:4). This mysterious response did not puzzle or deter Mary for she confidently told the servers: Do whatever he tells you (Jn 2:5). Jesus knew that once he manifested himself by a miracle, he would be taking the first step towards his passion and death. And probably Mary had an inkling about it too. By asking her Son for a sign, Mary in effect gave her fiat, her yes, her consent to start the process of redemption that would culminate on her Son’s death on the cross. John therefore concludes his description of this incident in Cana by observing that: Jesus did this as the beginning of his signs in Cana in Galilee and so revealed his glory, and his disciples began to believe in him (Jn 2:11).
Brothers and sisters, at the foot of the cross in Calvary, Mary was probably not fifty yet. Widowed at an early age, Mary was left as the only living survivor in their small family at the death of her only Son. And yet, John – who in writing his Gospel is always very precise with his words – tells us that Mary stood at the foot of the cross: Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple there whom he loved, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son.” Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his home (Jn 19:25-27). Mary did not wail uncontrollably at the death of her Son. She did not faint in self-pity at her being all alone. She did not fall helplessly on the arms of the beloved disciple who was with her. Instead, she stood at the foot of the cross, crying perhaps, but fully composed as she gave her fiat. It was there that she said yes for the third time to God, accepting his will while embracing Jesus’ dead body but at the same time offering him up to the Father. She said yes to being alone so that the holy Spirit of her Son may be given to everyone.
Brothers and sisters, the three fiats of Mary correspond to the three phases of our spiritual journey. First, we experience our “Nazareth annunciation.” We hear the word of God through the Scriptures and then accept Jesus as part of our life. Like Mary, we say, “May it be done to me according to your word.” We then open our hearts to the grace that helps us develop a loving, personal relationship with Jesus.
Second, we experience our “Cana manifestation.” As we continue to learn and understand the Scriptures and grow in our personal relationship with Christ, we begin to see signs of God’s miracles. The presence and power of God start manifesting in our daily activities, in our relationship as husband and wife, in the life of our children, in our service in the community. We see “ordinary water” turning into “special wine” in the daily routine of our lives.
Third, we experience our “Calvary offering.” We have now died to ourselves and started living for others. We offer ourselves in service to the community. We develop a zeal for sharing Jesus with others. We want to make others experience the joy we have in the community. And thus we hear the church bells tolling once again.
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