9d • General discussion
From the Gospel according to Luke 1:26-38
When we listen to that Gospel, it is very striking that Mary’s first reaction is not to say “No,” but to say, “How can this be…?” It is a simple question, but it opens a very deep doorway into faith, humility, and human freedom.
Mary does not argue, bargain, or run away. She also does not pretend to understand everything. She simply says, in effect: “Lord, I don’t see how this is possible in my situation… but I am open. Show me how.”
That is very different from resistance.
Resistance says: “I don’t want this.”
Pride says: “I know better.”
Fear says: “I must stay in control.”
Mary’s question says: “I don’t understand, but I am willing.”
Her words hold together two important things: honesty and surrender. She is honest about her reality (“I have no husband”), and at the same time she is willing to surrender to God’s plan. She does not suppress her question, but she does not let the question become an excuse to close her heart.
In our daily life, this is exactly where we often struggle. Life brings news we did not expect: illness, change, responsibility, a new path, a hard decision, a quiet invitation to grow. Inside, we also have our version of Mary’s question: “How can this be? I don’t have enough strength. I don’t have the right background. I don’t have the time, the money, the energy.” Many times our first reaction is either to escape, or to shut down, or to become bitter.
Mary shows another way: to bring our real situation in front of God and stay open.
Her question is not a wall; it is a door. It is the door through which God’s grace enters.
And then comes her second response, the one that completes the first: “Let it be done to me according to your word.” This is not a passive sentence. It is the most active thing she could say. She makes a free choice. God does not force her. She could have refused. Instead, she uses her freedom to align her will with God’s will, even without seeing the full picture.
This is “acceptance” in the deepest sense: not giving up in defeat, but saying a humble yes to God’s work in us, even when we don’t understand everything.
In our daily life, that kind of acceptance is very powerful.
It can mean: • Accepting a path we did not plan, while still trusting that God is present
• Accepting our limits, but believing that God can still work through us
• Accepting people in front of us, even when they are difficult, with a heart that says, “Lord, help me love here”
• Accepting that we don’t need to control every outcome, only to be faithful in our small yes today
Mary’s story reminds us that God’s greatest work often begins in hidden places, with quiet people who simply say yes in their ordinary life. She is a young woman in a small town, with no status, no comfort, no security plan. Yet the whole history of salvation changes in that one moment of free, humble acceptance.
This guides us in a very practical way.
Every day we are given “small annunciations”: moments where God quietly invites us: • to listen to someone who is hurting
• to forgive instead of holding a grudge
• to courageously start something good, even when we feel unqualified
• to keep faith when the news is not what we prayed for
In those moments, we can be like Mary. It is okay to tell God honestly: “Lord, I don’t know how this will work. I feel weak. I am tired. I am afraid.” But then, like Mary, we are invited to add: “Yet, let it be done according to your word. Use me in the way you want.”
The Annunciation also tells us something important about the character of God. God does not shout or force. The angel announces, invites, explains, reassures: “Do not be afraid.” God respects Mary’s freedom. He waits for her response. In the same way, God is gentle with us. He invites; He does not crush. He gives grace; He does not remove our humanity. He works with our questions, our fears, our limits, if we place them in His hands.
So what is the important message for us as human beings?
1. Honest questions are not a lack of faith, as long as they are asked with an open heart. Mary’s “How can this be?” shows that God can handle our questions. What He asks from us is not pretending, but trust.
2. True humility is not thinking we are useless; it is saying yes to God even when we feel small. Mary calls herself “the handmaid of the Lord.” She knows she is small, but she also knows God is big.
3. Acceptance in faith does not mean we understand everything. It means we trust the One who understands everything. Our job is to say yes; God’s job is to make it possible.
4. God’s greatest work often begins in hidden, quiet yeses. The world may not notice, but heaven does. A simple act of obedience, a gentle word, a decision to trust in pain—these are “annunciations” in daily life.
5. We are invited to live like Mary: not with a loud, dramatic faith, but with a steady, humble will that says, day by day, “Lord, I don’t see the full picture, but I am yours. Let it be done in me according to your word.”
If we carry this attitude into our families, work, ministry, and ordinary routines, then the story of Mary is not just something that happened long ago. It becomes something that quietly continues in us: God taking ordinary human lives, full of questions and weakness, and doing something beautiful through a simple, sincere yes.
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From the Gospel according to Luke 1:26-38
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