All mystics wonder what is happening to them when the Holy Spirit asks them to believe the seemingly impossible notion that God wants to enter their lives. They can, of course, refuse out of fear or doubt, and it is the glory of Mary that she does not refuse but says yes. Each true mystic who says yes to God at some point is sent forth into the world as the Father sent the Son to announce and build up the kingdom.
For Mary, this moment comes almost immediately when the angel announces that her aged cousin Elizabeth is in her sixth month of pregnancy (for nothing is impossible with God). Mary says to the angel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38).
—from St. Anthony Messenger‘s “Mary: Mother and Mystic“
by Murray Bodo, OFM
