By Fr. Roy Cimagala
CHRIST spelled it out to us very clearly about how we can be part of the family of God. “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Mt 12,50) And the first one who had this qualification is none other than Our Lady who precisely is the mother of Christ, perfect God and perfect man.
When someone told Christ that his mother was around, Christ asked, “Who is my mother?” That retort was not meant to disparage Our Lady. Not at all! On the contrary, it was meant to define who his mother is and who can be part of the family God. It is when one does the will of God. It was actually a praise to Mary. (cfr. Mt 12,46-50)
Mary’s total submission to the will of God was manifested when she told the Archangel Gabriel who announced to her that she was chosen to be the mother of the Son of God with her “Fiat,” “Be it done to me according to your word.
Mary’s “Fiat” is the perfect model of how our will ought to be conformed to God’s will. We have to be reminded that by the very nature of our will, the very seat of our freedom, our will is supposed to be in synch with the will of its Creator. It just cannot be by itself, turning and moving purely by its own.
It is meant to be engaged with the will of God, its creator and lawgiver. It is the very power we have been given by God that enables us to unite ourselves with God in the most intimate way. All the other aspects of our life—physical, biological, chemical, etc.—are also governed by God-given laws but, by themselves, they cannot bring us into intimate union with God, unless moved by our will that animated by God’s grace.
We cannot expropriate our will to be simply our own. We are meant only to be stewards of it, not its owner nor its designer, creator and lawgiver. It has to submit itself to the will of God, otherwise it would be working without proper foundation and purpose.
Mary’s “Fiat” should be an all-time motto for us, a guiding principle in our whole life. The submission of our will to God’s will is never a diminution of our freedom. On the contrary, it is the enhancement of our freedom. It is where we can have our true freedom and true joy.
We need to be more aware of this fundamental need of ours to conform our will to the will of God. Very often, we behave like spoiled brats who do not yet realize the importance of this need. We have to correct this tendency.
We have to train ourselves in the art of deepening our sense of obedience to God’s will, basing it on our faith, hope and love of God and others, and making it intelligent, truly voluntary, prompt and cheerful.
That’s when we can be truly children of God, his image and likeness, sharers of his divine life. That’s when we become members of God’s family. This is a basic truth that we need to spread around more widely and abidingly, since it is steadily and even systematically forgotten and, nowadays, even contradicted in many instances.
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
