I realize that it is Palm Sunday today, and so my thoughts are a few days late (and a few dollars short!). But, on Thursday, which was the Feast of the Annunciation, I was thinking quite a bit about Mary's humility -- her "littleness"-- and I wanted to put those thoughts down.
First, during the homily at Mass on Thursday morning, the priest related something that Thomas Merton once wrote about Mary, that "the greatest thing about her is how little we know about her." That struck me as something worth pondering.
So I pondered... and as I did, I thought about that young woman in Nazareth all those years ago. And how "insignificant" she was in the greater world. Yet, in her "yes" to God, she changed the shape of history!
Mary's fiat was a bit like a small pebble that is thrown into a pool of water. It barely makes a splash when it enters, and yet the ripples from the pebble spread to the far reaches of the pool. Mary's humble submission to the will of God has a profound effect on the world even today.
I find that comforting- particularly when I feel like I am struggling in anonymity, doing nothing "important" other than quietly living out my vocation as a husband and father. But when I look at Mary, I realize that I do not have to make a "big splash" to achieve great things. None of us do. All we have to do is humbly say "yes" to God in whatever task He places before us. Then, we too can change the world.
First, during the homily at Mass on Thursday morning, the priest related something that Thomas Merton once wrote about Mary, that "the greatest thing about her is how little we know about her." That struck me as something worth pondering.
So I pondered... and as I did, I thought about that young woman in Nazareth all those years ago. And how "insignificant" she was in the greater world. Yet, in her "yes" to God, she changed the shape of history!
Mary's fiat was a bit like a small pebble that is thrown into a pool of water. It barely makes a splash when it enters, and yet the ripples from the pebble spread to the far reaches of the pool. Mary's humble submission to the will of God has a profound effect on the world even today.
I find that comforting- particularly when I feel like I am struggling in anonymity, doing nothing "important" other than quietly living out my vocation as a husband and father. But when I look at Mary, I realize that I do not have to make a "big splash" to achieve great things. None of us do. All we have to do is humbly say "yes" to God in whatever task He places before us. Then, we too can change the world.
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