J.M.J.
Our Blessed Mother’s constant practice of the virtue of
obedience was nothing short of perfect. Her entire existence can be summed up
in a simple but profound phrase: to do always the Will of God.
How may we characterize Our Blessed Lady’s stellar obedience?
Mary obeyed always. No one can point to a moment from her
Immaculate Conception in the previously sterile womb of her mother St. Ann to her
Coronation by the Most Blessed Trinity as the Queen of Heaven and Earth in which
the Mother of God refused her Lord anything. Her answer was always “yes”—“yes”
to love, to sacrifice, to hardship. God had only to ask, and Mary’s response
was always the same: fiat—“Let it be
done as You say.”
Mary obeyed unhesitatingly. Our Lady needed no time for
deliberation on whether to obey. She responded immediately and affirmatively to
the Lord without delay. Her delight was to obey God with all rapidity.
Mary obeyed selflessly. She never asked herself: “Is this
in my best interest?” “Would I be hampered if I obeyed?” Such self-seeking
questions were the farthest removed from her mind. She obeyed without selfish
consideration of the future. She surrendered equally to both joys and sorrows.
Mary obeyed cheerfully. Who can imagine Mary with a “long
face” when she was called to embrace some sacrifice? No, she was continually
joyful in her obedience, no matter what God required of her. Mary’s was a deep
joy that never escaped her soul.
If we wish to drawer closer to Jesus Christ, then we must
take a page from His Ever-Virgin Mother’s Immaculate Heart and obey as she did.
Our obedience, too, must be always unhesitating, selfless and cheerful.
This task is not easy, to be sure. Rather, it demands much
from each of us. Yet, obedience is possible! And it is necessary if, like Our Mother,
we are to inherit the Kingdom of God.
In our world where obedience is regarded as weakness and
a lack of self-assertiveness, the example of Our Blessed Lady provides a
necessary corrective. She is the beautiful model of obedience. She gladly
exalted God’s Will in her life. We can even say that His Will became her will,
so much did she yield to it.
In her own stirring example, Mary reminds us that
obedience to God is where our treasure and unending happiness lie. By clinging
to His Will instead of our own, we grow in the very life of God.
Our Blessed Mother never tired of obeying Her Divine Son.
She did everything that she was asked by God. And all that she did was carried
out with intense love for and gratitude to her benevolent Creator.
How was it that Mary understood the importance of obedience?
What special insight did she have?
Having been filled with the Holy Spirit at the instance
of her Immaculate Conception, Our Lady knew what was proper and just. Her
decisions were blest because she made them humbly and with reference to
Almighty God and His Eternal Law.
Are our decisions blest? Yes, if they are made humbly and
with reference to God. By our daily prayer, frequent and worthy reception of
the Holy Sacraments (especially Penance and the Most Holy Eucharist) and regular
acts of charity and self-denial, our minds, too, become increasingly
enlightened. Then, we see with the eyes of God and do as He wishes.
The virtue of obedience is within our grasp. We turn to
Our Blessed Lady and seek her intercession so that we may behave as she did.
Our reward will be like hers: Everlasting Life with the Most Blessed Trinity
forever!
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