Fiat

“And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’”

-Luke 1:38

Today marks the Feast of the Annunciation, an occasion of joy for the Church in the midst of the penitential season of Lent.  This year especially, I have grown a lot in love for the Annunciation according to Luke and in love of the Blessed Virgin Mary out of this beautiful mystery.  The part of the Annunciation that I want to focus on here in Mary’s “fiat”, literally in Latin, “let it be done”.  This is what Mary says in response to the angel Gabriel announcing to her that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  This is something I have been reflecting on a lot lately and I have found this reflection to be very valuable in my spiritual life.

First of all, I want to look at the fiat in and of itself.  Mary’s declaration first strikes me as an exclamation of faith.  It is difficult to imagine being told by an angel that you are going to conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, and Mary acknowledges this when she says, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” (Luke 1:34)  The angel Gabriel answers that, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:37)  Mary immediately gives her assent of faith, pronouncing her beautiful fiat.  Her complete faith in God’s power and His plan is incredible to me.  This faith that places all of its trust in God and surrenders to Him without hesitation is something I think we should all strive to better imitate in our own lives.

The second aspect of Mary’s fiat that I have reflected on is her profound humility.  Through Mary’s total acceptance, telling the angel to “let it be to me according to your word”, I have learned a lot about what true humility is.  Humility, in this context and in my new understanding after much reflection, can simply mean acceptance: acceptance of ourselves, acceptance of God’s plan, etc.  In short, humility accepts everything, every aspect of life, as a gift from God that He has given with our best interest in mind.  Mary is the model of this virtue, and I would suggest that her humility is what allowed her to crush the head of the serpent, the devil, as is depicted in many Marian sculptures and paintings.  My spiritual director here at Conception, Father Xavier, often says that the devil is defenseless against humility.  Once again, let us learn from Mary the humility it takes to pronounce “Let it be done” in response to all of the events, good and bad, in our lives.

Finally, I want to look at the fiat extended to the foot of the Cross.  As the mother of Jesus, Mary loved Him more dearly than anything else.  I think that this is common to all mothers – once they have children, their kids become their prized possessions.  In my own experience and hopefully yours too, our mothers hold us closer to their hearts than anything else, loving us above all.  This is the same love Mary had for Jesus.  Now imagine Mary standing at the foot of the Cross, helpless as she watched her Son die one of the most torturous deaths anyone could possibly face.  Imagine standing there and looking at your Son, knowing that He could save Himself if He wanted to, but being so resigned to God’s will that you just silently watch as He gives Himself up.  Mary was not just a bystander to the Crucifixion – in Jesus giving Himself up, she too gave up the part of her that she loved the most – her Son.  The faith and humility modeled in Mary’s appearance at the foot of the Cross, where her fiat is fully realized, is an incredibly powerful reflection for me.  There, at the foot of the Cross, we can learn from Mary what fiat truly means – acceptance of God’s plan in total faith even in the greatest physical and emotional suffering.  May we model Mary’s fiat everywhere in our lives, especially where it is most difficult.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

In Jesus’ love through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Hayden

Lent: A Season of Repentance

“Repent and believe in the gospel.”

-Mark 1:15

The Lenten season is marked by repentance, by recognizing the brokenness of our humanity and turning back to God.  But often I think we, myself included, confuse repentance.  Too many times I have asked questions like, “What am I going to give up for Lent?”, “How am I going to make myself a better disciple?”, “How am I going to improve my prayer life?”, or “How am I going to love my neighbor more?”  I believe these to be the wrong questions entirely.  A lot of times I think Lent causes us to fall into this self-centered mentality that fails to put God at the heart of our repentance.

Lent should be about seeking not self-improvement, growth, or perfection, but about seeking relationship.  That should be the ultimate goal of our Lenten repentance: renewal of our relationship with God.  One example I would like to offer is a contrast from two passages from the Gospel of Luke.  In Luke 8: 7-9 we read:

“Herod the tetrarch heard about all that was happening and he was greatly perplexed because some were saying, ‘John has been raised from the dead’; others were saying, ‘Elijah has appeared’; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’  But Herod said, ‘John I beheaded.  Who then is this about whom I hear such things?’  And he kept trying to see him.”

Later on, we find in verses 18-20:

“Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, ‘Who do the crowds say that I am?’  They said in reply, ‘John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, “One of the ancient prophets has arisen.”’  Then he said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  Peter said in reply, ‘The Messiah of God.’

In Matthew’s account of Peter’s confession about Jesus, Jesus replies, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.” (Matthew 16:17)  Herod, on the other hand, lived according to flesh and blood, the material world; thus, he could not know Jesus.  So it is clear that we must not let flesh and blood, the material world, get in the way of our spiritual life.  But I don’t think it is enough to just give a material possession or two up; Lenten repentance must go further.

Peter didn’t simply give up everything he had and then call it good; he gave up everything and then followed Jesus.  Simply giving up the world of flesh and blood did not suffice; it was the heavenly Father who revealed the identity of Jesus to Peter.  Peter’s repentance led him to relationship.  This, I believe, is the purpose of Lenten sacrifices, Lenten repentance.  May our sacrifices this Lent lead us to a deeper relationship with God, because that is what this season of repentance is all about.

Please pray for me this Lent, that my relationship with God may be deepened by repentance, and I will do the same for you.

In Jesus love through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Hayden

Painting My Heart

“Let these words be the colors, I’m just painting my heart.”

-Jermaine Cole

In paragraph 2563, the Catechism of the Catholic Church says, “The heart is the dwelling place where I am, where I live…the heart is the place ‘to which I withdraw’…The heart is our hidden center, beyond the grasp of our reason, and of others…The heart is the place of decision, deeper that our psychic drives.  It is the place of truth, where we choose life or death.  It is the place of encounter…it is the place of covenant.”  In my own words, the heart is the place where God speaks.  As the Catechism says, it is the place of encounter, especially our encounter with God.  My heart, my place of encounter, is what I am trying to paint for you with these words.  That is the object of this blog, and why I open up with one of my favorite quotes: “Let these words be the colors, I’m just painting my heart.”

My name is Hayden Charles and I am a Roman Catholic seminarian studying for the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas.  I am currently in my first year at Conception Seminary College, but I am classified as a sophomore.  My purpose, as I said earlier, is to share my encounter with God, and hopefully extend the joy of the Gospel to others.  That, I have decided, is what I am going to call this little endeavor – “The Joy of the Gospel”.  I chose this name because in my encounter with Jesus Christ, especially this year, I have found great joy at the heart of the Gospel.  As Jesus tells the Apostles in the Gospel of John, Chapter 15, verse 11, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”

In my heart throughout my journey of discipleship I have found joy…joy of an encounter, joy in being forgiven, joy in being called, joy in a relationship, joy in the hope of an eternity spent with God, joy in being led to my heavenly home.  In short, I have discovered the joy of being loved, and loved infinitely, to the point of death, by my God. 

This joy, the joy of the Gospel, is not just part of my life, not just a little piece of who I am.  The joy of the Gospel gives meaning to my life.  It isn’t something I can set aside and forget about in the midst of everyday struggles.  This joy of an encounter with Jesus Christ is a defining characteristic for me.  In the words of soon to be Saint John Paul II, Jesus has shown me that He alone can fill my heart.  And now I feel called to share this joy with you. 

I look forward to seeing what God has in store with this little project, and I hope that you do too.  Please know that I am very excited to share my heart and paint my encounter with God for you.  You will be in my prayers, and I encourage you to pray for me as something I have been praying about for a long time finally gets off the ground.  Thank you for reading, and please come again!

Mary, Cause of Our Joy, pray for us.

In Jesus’ love, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Hayden