A "YES" like Mary's "YES"

 

Mary answered: “Here I am, the handmaid of the Lord, let your word be accomplished in me.” God did not impose himself on Mary against her will. He wanted her consent, her own “yes.” Not the “yes” of someone who cannot say “no.” He did not want the “yes” of someone who did not understand the scope of the issue; not the quick and superficial “yes” of someone who was devoid of interiority and depth or a temporary and conditional “yes.” Her “yes” had to have the force and impact of a free person who engaged her whole heart and soul. (…) God wanted to enter our humanity and history by and through Mary’s “yes,” full of daring and audacity, the “yes” of someone who responds as “the handmaid of the Lord” (…) Without this daring and risky “yes,” there would be no faith, because faith is present only if we consent to God's call. There would be no spouses, since they are sustained by the “yes” they exchanged. And there would be no priests or religious either, since their lives are based on the “yes” they gave at the beginning of their journey. Fr. François-Xavier Dumortier S.J. Rome, October 10, 2013, Zenit.org