Jesus, Francis, and Yogananda have something very important in common: they were each born of a woman. God’s love and light always enters the world through a mother. Without the Mother, there is no enlightenment, freedom, or salvation. For this reason, Mary is the embodiment of the feminine face of God in Catholic and Orthodox Christianity. In fact, her title is, “Mother of God.” God actually needed Mary’s fiat, her “Yes,” in order to wholly enter into human history in and through Jesus. She gave her consent to God’s overture in the humble words, “Behold, I am the handmaiden of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” In these words, she fulfilled the precondition for the marriage of heaven and earth. Thus, Mary is the model of the spiritual life; she teaches us how to give birth to God in our own lives. Just as God needed Mary’s Yes to fully break into human affairs, God needs our Yes as well. Such a prayer of consent is neither a superficial nod nor a one-time commitment, but a profound and sustained willingness to surrender all of ourselves to God.
Divine God,
Beloved Guru,
Yes.
As the Assisi Institute prepares for our spring silent retreat day on the theme of the Divine Mother, we turn to Isha Das’ book Living Grace: Daily Reflections for Meditation and Contemplation for this week’s online reflections. Would you like to join us online for the retreat on May 15? Visit our website at www.assisi-institute.org for details.
