Obedience wins

As disobedience brought the downfall of the first Eve, so the obedience of the 2nd or new Eve (Mary) won back the lost divine grace for the salvation of fallen humanity. Mary, full of grace as the Mother of our Savior God, told the angel at her Annunciation: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said” (Lk. 1:38). And the Son of God was conceived in her womb. Mary contributed the genetic matter to the human form God took in Jesus Christ. Since then, the Mother of Jesus –Mother of God, participates in the redemptive work of her Savior Son, who alone could reconcile humanity with the Father in His glorious divinity and humanity.

Etymologically, obedience means ‘listening to’; so it follows that an obedient person learns more of the truth inasmuch as he/she employs time to listen. “He who listens wisely will be given time to speak” (Pro. 21:28). Obedience stems from a humility that searches for and obeys the truth. Mary intelligently questioned the angel’s message and freely proclaimed her obedience to God’s will, determined to take responsibility for her action. Mary’s belief that “Nothing will be impossible for God” (Lk. 1:37) as “handmaid of the Lord,” gave her courage and endurance to carry out her mission as mother of Jesus and to follow Him to His suffering and death on the Cross.

The famous theologian Irenaeus, who was a strong defender of Mary’s divine motherhood, wrote: “The Virgin Mary, being obedient to his word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God” (Against Heresies, 5:19:1 [A.D.189]. She becomes the “womans clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head” (Rev. 12:1).

“She is the Queen of heaven and earth and mother of the Church, who intercedes for all her children on earth, particularly those who call upon her.”

May we follow in the footsteps of humble obedience of the New Eve, while listening to and pondering God’s message in life’s ups and downs (Lk. 2:19)—a ‘winning attitude’ that maintains inner harmony in life’s ups and downs.