Mary’s vocation: a faith response to the Word

# What is Mary’s vocation?By this term, we understand the act by which God calls Mary to place her life and person *wholly* at His love’s disposal. This appeal does not imply the annulation of Mary’s freedom, will, and intelligence—in a word, her personality—but rather a profound restructuring of her entire life.Mary’s personality is her free self-determination, but it is freely kept at Her disposition by the trinitarian *ágape*. Her human world, her body, and her feelings do not disappear or are replaced, but they are animated from within to proclaim and manifest her adherence to God’s will, an absolute and unconditional adhesion even where she is not fully aware of what awaits her. Her *eis-me aqui* (Here I am) is certainly preceded and animated by the work of that Spirit who empowers her for a singular motherhood, but it continues to be an expression of her free personality. Her *amém* (yes) to God’s *sim* (yes) in Christ is unique and at the same time serves as a model for every disciple and for the life of the Church.To deepen this alignment of Mary with God’s will, we can start from the text of the **Annunciation** in Luke 1:26-38. There is nothing in this narrative that suggests we are dealing with a simple proposal. Rather, it is the announcement of a divine decree that, as such, cannot fail to be fulfilled. In similar passages, like Sarah’s smile or Zechariah’s incredulity, the same incredulity on the part of the interlocutor did not cause God’s promises to be canceled but rather confirmed because, as the text of Luke also reminds us, nothing is impossible for God.Furthermore, the entire history of salvation is carried out by God despite the unfaithfulness of the people. In this case, however, the evangelist uses the model of Abraham, who believed in God, to describe Mary’s behavior.Regarding Abraham, faith is also expressed for Mary in the existential terms of those who trust totally and freely in God.The *Dei Verbum* 5, from the Second Vatican Council, states:> «To God who reveals is due the obedience of faith. (Rom 16:26; cf Rom 1:5; 2 Cor 10:5-6). By faith man surrenders himself totally and freely to God, offering «to the God who reveals the full obsequy of his intellect and will» (2 Cor 4:18), and giving voluntary consent to His revelation. To give this adherence of faith requires the prior and simultaneous help of divine grace and the interior assistance of the Holy Spirit, who moves and converts hearts, opens the eyes of understanding, and gives «to all the sweetness in accepting and believing the truth» (St Augustine, *De Magistero*, 32). In order that the understanding of revelation may always be deeper, the same Holy Spirit perfects faith by His gifts.»A few decades later, almost as a commentary on this text, Saint John Paul II’s *Redemptoris Mater* writes that Mary:> «responded with all her being feminine and in this response of faith she contained a perfect cooperation with the grace of God who prevails and assists, and a perfect availability for the action of the Holy Spirit. Faith, indeed, is contact with the mystery of God; Mary is constantly, daily, in contact with the ineffable mystery of God who became man.»Mary, in *Ecce Ancilla* (Behold the Handmaid), that is, *Eis a Serva*, builds the *fiat mihi*. Mary does not merely observe what is happening, but places her will, her consent, her personal posture at the service of this event. The *fiat mihi* keeps God’s action at the center and assumes the role of companion by right: she allows what God wants to happen to herself.The fact that Marian faith here is the response to a divine self-communication that underpins the entire salvific history of humanity means that the “faith of Mary” assumes the role of a global anticipation of the free human response. This is developed by patristic thought through the parallel of Eve-Mary: as Eve brought death, Mary brought life, to the point that Irineu referred to Mary as “the cause of salvation for herself and for all humanity.”While philosophy has not yet clearly elucidated the relationship between individual freedom that cannot be replaced and solidarity belonging to a communal life, Scripture teaches that “all die in Adam, all will be made alive in Christ” (1 Cor 15:22).In the context of Mary’s full adherence to the mystery of the Word made flesh, her role was to realize the first and decisive encounter of Christ’s grace with humanity. From then on, the encounter of Christ’s grace with humanity will always have the structure of a synthesis of grace and faith in line with the abandonment of one’s life into God’s hands.Christ’s grace is where there is “the fullness of divine nature” (Col 2:9). Therefore, there is no other way to participate in this grace than by abandoning one’s life, through faith, into the hands of God’s. The point at which this consciousness becomes most evident is in the Magnificat: this canticle, indeed, celebrates Mary’s joy, both for her awareness that God looked upon her humility and accomplished great things within her, and for her certainty that from now on all generations will call her blessed.If we were to complete the narrative of Mary’s motherhood, we should not pass in silence the interventions of Simeon, a righteous and God-fearing man who was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and Anna the prophetess: their intervention reiterates once more that this Son is not for the mother but for the work the Father wants to accomplish for humanity’s benefit. Simultaneously, Mary’s destiny is indicated as a surrender to the mission of the Son and to his singular moments. Thus, Mary represents the Church and humanity: since Mary represented all men, the redemption sacrifice was universal and perfect for all humanity because it belongs to them entirely.The relationship between Christ, Mary, and humanity can be expressed through the concept of *representation*, a category that connects the mystery of the One with the salvation of many, relating Christ’s mystery to the function of the Church. In His mission, Christ is God’s representative to humanity and humanity’s representative to God. While the christological use of the notion of *representation* is relatively widespread, its mariological application remains largely unknown. Mary is Christ’s representative to humanity and humanity’s representative to Christ. The Mother of the Word is a *type* and *model* of this new humanity that is the Church, and in this sense, Christ’s work finds its fulfillment therein.One must bear in mind that Mary does not participate in the constitution of *grace*, but rather in its communication, and her representation of the Church allows us to ponder the communication of grace. The Church possesses the fullness of the means of grace in a dialogue of love and faith with Mary, not merely an institutional logic. If we consider that *representation* has developed the theme of social solidarity by shifting from a substitutive (or *in place of*) dynamic to a participatory (or *on behalf of*) one, then it is clear that the representative fulfills their role not by freeing others from their mission but by involving them in their journey anticipatorily.The fullness of love expressed through self-abandonment to the Father and self-giving to brothers represents the path Jesus follows and outlines for all his disciples. His grace, which transcends the visible boundaries of the Church to spread into the hearts of all *semina Verbi* (seeds of the Word) and the values of the Kingdom, makes it possible for the Church to recognize:> “God does not show favoritism but welcomes those who fear him and act justly, regardless of their nationality.” (Wisdom 3:9)If there is a mode of grace here that the *Gaudium et Spes* 22 document recognizes as one used by the Spirit to “enter into contact, in a way known to God, with the paschal mystery,” and if there is a “mysterious relationship” with the Church, then shouldn’t we consider a mysterious Marian capacity to anticipate Christ’s mystery and communicate his grace? This is a topic that remains to be explored. What does this mysterious relationship with the Church and its anticipatory Marian dimension entail? What faith and love does it open up for us? How does it enable us to stand before Christ (cf. Mt 25:40, 45) as those who recognize him in human fraternity?In any case, making Mary the representative of the new humanity does not exempt anyone from the commitment of faith and charity; only communion with Mary’s faith and charity, in turn, brings communion with Christ, allowing us to give meaning to our lives. In Mary, people are not replaced but placed before their duty to be. In her relationship with Christ, Mary not only makes space for the Son but also anticipates humanity’s response to His grace. Therefore, her dedication to Christ is not merely a provisional representative value, but as a participant in the Christian event, it introduces us into the salvific event and its fullness. Thus, in Mary, all finitude of the creature conceived in contrast with God’s infinity is overcome: her dedication to the Son implies the outline of a path of full correspondence with Him. Her face radiates faith and love, which illuminate her singular maternal role, extending her vocation to the entirety of the Church and humanity.To deepen reflection on Mary’s vocation and her response of faith to the Word, consult Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Redemptoris Mater, which illuminates Mary’s “fiat” as an exemplary response of faith to the divine call.For further study: explore Mariology, Theological Marian Studies, Marian Apparitions, and the Master’s Program in Mariology.