Commentary of the Gospell

December 20, 2022

Being Done

Look at Mary’s response: “Let it be done to me.” Mary was initially troubled at the greeting. Then she had honest questions about the viability of the proposal. But at the end of it, she has only words of surrender: “Let it be done.” She claims no full understanding of the project. But she knows that the agency of the project is with God whom she trusts totally, with her body, mind, and soul. This willingness “to be done” to her is the epitome of kenosis, emptying of one’s own will so that God can work in her. This is no static or barren passivity: it is a dynamic passivity within which the three theological virtues – faith, hope, and love – embrace one another. Jesus inherited the “best genes”: he had a Father in heaven as well as a Mother on earth who were all about unconditional and absolute self-gift.

Paulson Veliyannoor, CMF - Claretian Publications Philippines