When Mary said, "Yes!"

Today is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God, a Holy day of obligation for us Catholics. 

I am having a hard time looking for churches in our area that celebrates the Holy Mass in the afternoon but finally found one in Denver, 25 miles away from home. While it is daunting to oblige due to a nightlong revelry in meeting the New Year, it is my longing to quench this thirst for the word of God. Today's Gospel moved me as it speaks of the message that had been told to the shepherd about the baby Jesus. All who heard it were amazed. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

I wonder if Mary could not have said,“May it be to me as you have said,"would there be Christmas at all? This most humble Woman, not any First Lady or Queen or Princess, was highly favored by God to bear His Son, She disregarded the exhausting and humiliating tasks ahead of her but willingly accepted the duty as a servant.

When Mary said, "Yes," She has given me the strength to willingly carry the responsibility of raising an autistic son. Thus when unwelcoming stares are upon me when my son is acting up on public, I will remember how Mary was able to endure the degradation of conceiving before marriage to Joseph. Yet, She trusted God will fill Joseph's mind with understanding. I will trust God that He will use my son's Autism to smite people with His wonders.

The Gospel above is taken from Luke, my favorite book in the Bible. I named my son Luke because of this:

"A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."

Then the irony due to Autism happened. He speaks but still struggles in communicating. Nevertheless, I will remember when Mary said,"Yes," She believed that miracle is bound to happen. I, too will keep these humbling challenges and reflect them in my heart.