Handmaid of the Lord
Pope John Paul II
The word of the living God, announced to Mary by an angel, referred to her: "And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son" (Lk 1:31). By accepting this announcement, Mary was to become the "Mother of the Lord," and the divine mystery of the incarnation was to be accomplished in her.
She said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38). In faith, she entrusted herself to God without reserve and devoted herself totally as the handmaid of the Lord to the person and work of her son. And, as the fathers of the church teach, she conceived this son in her mind before she conceived this son in her womb: precisely in faith!
Rightly, therefore, does Elizabeth praise Mary: "And blessed is she who believed there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord" (Lk 1:45). Mary of Nazareth presents herself at Elizabeth and Zechariah's house as the mother of the Son of God. This is Elizabeth's joyful discovery: "The mother of my Lord comes to me" (Lk 1:43)!
If, through faith, Mary became the bearer of the Son given to her by the Father through the Holy Spirit, while preserving her virginity intact, in that same faith she discovered and accepted the other dimension of motherhood revealed by Jesus during his messianic mission. This dimension belonged to Mary from the beginning; that is, from the moment of the conception and the birth of her son.
From that time, she was the one who believed. But as the messianic mission of her son grew clearer to her eyes and spirit, she herself as a mother became ever more open to that new dimension of motherhood which was to constitute her "part" beside her son. Had she not said from the beginning: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word" (Lk 1:38).
Through faith, Mary continued to hear and ponder that word, the self-revelation of the living God. Thus, in a sense, Mary as mother became the first disciple of her son, the first to whom he seemed to say: "Follow me" (Jn 1:43), even before he addressed this call to the apostles or to anyone else.
It is my hope that in your reverence for the word of God, you will be like Mary . . . who treasured those things which were said of her son, pondering them in her heart (Lk 2:19). May you treasure God's word always and ponder it each day in your heart, so your whole life may become a proclamation of Christ, the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14).