Saying Yes...

Today's readings found Mary being confronted with Gabriel, who greets her with, "Hail, Mary, full of grace", and then goes on to tell her she will conceive a son, and he will be the savior of the world.  Here was Mary, a young girl who had promised her life to God, and who was betrothed to Joseph. A girl who was simple and lived in a simple town. She faced way worse than any married woman today would face as a woman who finds herself pregnant with the child of another.  She faced exile, even death, yet she answered, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word."  She said, with full knowledge and consent, "yes."  I'm not sure that just any girl of her age and of her time would have answered in that way. Furthermore, I think we might be hard-pressed to find anyone who would have succumbed to the will of God in the way that Mary did.
Now, I'm not saying that people don't answer God with a "yes", but let's be honest. First of all, how often do we allow ourselves to be "full of grace" enough to recognize God's will in our lives, much less put ourselves out on a limb to give ourselves over completely and freely to what He wants of us?
In her "yes", not only did Mary provide us with an amazing example of someone who chose to fully cooperate with the will of God, but she also participated in the most important event in salvation history, the Incarnation of Jesus.  Many people would argue that statement. They would say that the crucifixion, or the resurrection, is the most important event, but I don't think so. They are both essential, and both powerful, but without the incarnation, there would have been no lamb to sacrifice and no man to conquer death. 
I often hear people say that Mary had no role in salvation; that Jesus alone acted for our salvation, and that to say Mary had any role in God's salvation plan is wrong. I disagree strongly.  Mary was the woman chosen by God from the beginning to be the mother of His son. Would God really have just chosen any common Jewish girl to be the mother of Jesus? Do you really think it was no big deal and nothing special that she was "full of grace" and "found favor with God?" And even more profound, that she said YES!! She accepted Jesus first, she carried him in her womb, she bore him and loved and nurtured him as a mother, and she stood by him beyond his death.  She is the mother of God! I, personally, can't understand how anyone could think that isn't an amazing position to hold.  We don't worship her, but we honor her. We admire and revere her. She said Yes!! Most of us can't even listen long enough to hear God at all, much less fully give our lives to Him.  She held our savior in her arms in his first moments as man, and she held him in her arms in his last moments before being buried.  If there are rewards in heaven, or special places given to those who have served God best, she has the highest.  What mother, what human, can deny that they should aspire to be like Mary?