Mary, the "Big Ask," and Doing Hard Things

The angel Gabriel was sent from God

to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,

to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.

This is from the Gospel of Luke, and it tells of how Mary was chosen to be the Holy Mother. This was a Big Ask, in today's colloquial language. All throughout the Bible, there are times when faithful but generally unprepared people are asked to take on hard things, and they do so, "greatly troubled at what [is] said" to them. But they do it. They risk public condemnation, they go forward feeling really out of step with what has to be done, and they have no clue how it's all going to turn out. All they know is that for some reason, they have been selected to tackle a problem or a task that is almost far beyond their own skills. They are people who truly believe, so the gap between human ability and the need to perform what they must has to be filled by faith. And it is.

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception; it is a day of obligation for Catholics. What Mary was asked to do was far more complicated than anything I've ever faced (thank goodness), but today's second reading really got me thinking about all of the hard things I've had to do in the past few years, and in the last almost two years, specifically. My dad was in a general decline, sometimes with more significant health and cognitive needs than I could handle. When he fell and his hip broke, the deeper and more concerning issues came to light as well (he was very good at compensating, so a lot went under the radar). The pandemic added a serious layer of difficulty as well; ultimately, my father was in care, we had to sell his house and the contents, financial stuff piled up, and in the meantime, he went into a quicker decline, and passed in May. Then, all the "final paperwork" had to be dealt with, and probate-- you get the idea.

To be honest, most days I didn't think I'd be able to keep going. I had a small but wonderful support system to back me up, but the emotional turmoil and the sheer volume of legal and financial hurdles just about broke me. Those were scary, dark, panic-filled weeks and months. I don't ever want to do that again.

So, reading what the Gospel tells us about Mary's initial reaction to being chosen, and then her acceptance of her role, not knowing exactly what was going to happen, but knowing she must... yeah, I think I understand her a little more now. We can do hard things, but sometimes the fear is overwhelming. We need other people to help us along the way (Joseph was a wonderful help, both on the personal and on the social level, as the story tells us, and Mary's cousin Elizabeth was a huge support as well), and we need to dig deep and rely on our inner strength as well. Faith is a gift not to be taken lightly.

Have a blessed day. I get to read at church this morning, and I know that the readings sound a little different to me today than they have in the past.

Please enjoy this rendition of "Mary, Did You Know?" by Pentatonix.

Keep well,

C