Day 21: Mary's Unreserved YES

Today we contemplate the beautiful encounter between the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Archangel Gabriel as we celebrate the Annunciation.  One of the great lessons we take from this encounter is Mary's freedom to say yes without reservations.  Let me explain.  When I was 17 years old and decided to enter the seminary to study for the priesthood, I said yes to God, but I also had reservations:  "Am I too young? What if it doesn't work out? What if…What if…What if…"  It's not that I didn't trust God.  It's that I didn't trust Him enough.  Yes, I was young (Mary was younger), but I still hadn't matured in my faith to the point where I could give an unreserved "yes" to God like Mary did.  Because she was without sin, Mary had the true freedom to respond to God's call, to say yes, and to accomplish his will.  When most of us set out to do God's will, we always have reservations because, let's face it, we're dealing with the divine and since we don't know where God is taking us, we enter this journey with reservations, escape plans, and exit routes in case we don't like where the journey is taking us.  But can God possibly steer us wrong?  Of course not!  We have to follow the example of the Blessed Mother and trust totally in him.  She and Joseph were thrown many curveballs, but they never wavered in accomplishing the will of God.  They had a mission and a destination, and they were not going to be deterred from reaching their goal.  We too have a destination.  Imagine driving on a highway that leads us to God, but this highway is littered with exits that tempt us to go in different directions.  Stay the course.  Don't get distracted.  Have total trust like Mary did when she said yes to the angel. If we are responding to a divine call, God will most definitely take care of us.