A Huge Leap of Faith

We are so familiar with the story of the Annunciation that it can be easy to take Mary’s faith for granted. It’s easy to forget that Gabriel’s message opened up a vast new horizon for Mary. He didn’t give Mary any human guarantees; he didn’t offer her a familiar or secure way forward. He took her completely out of her comfort zone. Everything about this singular episode demanded a huge leap of faith: it was already hard enough to accept that an angel was speaking to her; it was even more difficult to believe that a virgin could conceive, but who could imagine that any woman could possibly become God’s own mother! Gabriel was painting a picture that bordered on the preposterous. Mary didn’t stop to think about the sheer unlikelihood of what was being announced. If she had, she would most likely have refused to believe. Mary’s focus was on God. She believed enough in God’s power and love to accept the message that Gabriel communicated to her. She plunged wholeheartedly into the limitless ocean of God as she said: ‘Behold the servant of the Lord, let it be done unto me according to your word’ (Luke 1:38).

Thomas Casey SJ, Smile of Joy: Mary of Nazareth