Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord: Mary's Free Agency

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here is one primary element during the Annunciation of the Lord that is often overlooked—Mary's free agency. Things did not happen instantaneously as we might often be thinking, i.e., that Mary, without giving deep thought about God's invitation for her, said her fiat (be it done) (Lk 1:26-38). Mary of Nazareth, being fully human like us, had to think slowly, step by step. At each point she looked around to see for herself the signposts of where God was leading her. Thinking slowly does not mean one is slow. No. The first verse of Elvis Presley's song "Can't Help Falling In Love" says “Wise men say, only fools rush in.” Those who rush in are the foolish ones and that is not quite like Mary.

In great likelihood God, through the angel, must have given Mary her own private time to think things through first. Mary, on the other hand, must have taken it and underwent a sort of discernment period. 'How long did that take?'—it does not matter anymore. But the matter of great importance when we contemplate the Annunciation is Mary's exercise of her freedom. Mary's fiat was not forced which usually happens during arranged marriages. Mary exercised her freedom and God expected her to be free which she did when she asked questions like "How can this be?" She was deeply considering what would it entail to become the mother of the Son of the Most High. To delay one's fiat does not diminish one's faith and fervor. It could even increase it all because of the freedom element.

When a penitent confesses to a sin of considerable gravity, a priest looks at the person's freedom when he or she was acting on it. The act remains to be sinfully wrong; however, if there is less freedom on the part of the agent it means less willfulness to commit the sin. When the penitent realizes that he or she was not free, then the guilt feeling becomes less. But if the element of freedom was present then it is but right to be guilty of having done the act. A word of caution: as rational beings, i.e., as thinking beings, we have the responsibility to know before hand the consequences of our actions before acting it out. It works the same way when we are trying to follow God's will. Is there a freedom element or none? Did I give my whole heart to following God or was I just dragging my feet? Fr JM Manzano SJ