Say, Yes! Mama Mary!

OUR YES TO MAMA MARY IS OUR YES TO GOD. INDEED A SOLEMN ONE.
Amen, is of course, a more solemn form of saying “yes”. It literally means, “so be it”. We often find Jesus opening his solemn statements with, “Amen, Amen, I say to you”. In the Old Testament, every covenant, every oath is always accompanied by an “amen” to indicate truthfulness, authenticity and honesty in the pronouncements made. But when we say “yes” to Mama Mary, we just can’t really help having thoughts whether that “yes” has the strength of the biblical “amen”. Or in the first place, could we really make such a solemn covenant of commitment to the devotion, to the cause or even for instance, to the daily recitation of the Rosary? Are we a “Jesus” who would prefix any statement of ours about anything that deals with the Marian devotion with such a solemn word? How far and deep can we say the real “yes” to Mama Mary.

Or is it “yes” to Mama Mary, which of essence here or could it be more of Mary’s “yes” to God’s initial crack at the final phase of the eternal plan of salvation during the Annunciation, rather than our own unconvincing positive remark – oh yes? Let us see what Mary’s “yes” is all about. Mary’s yes was a “fiat”, “fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum”, in Latin and it literally means, “be it done to me according to your Word”. So, “fiat” means, “be it” or “so be it”. Isn’t that the same as “amen” – the solemn word of divine commitment?

Now we can see the character of the fiat and the amen. Both are solemn pronouncements or statements made by God and man in a partnership of commitment to serve and save. God had said ‘Amen’ to mankind by sending Jesus in our midst as Saviour. The Book of Revelation is right when it called Jesus as the “Amen of God” (Rev. 3:14). God made a solemn commitment to mankind. But it was always in partnership with an equally solemn commitment from man himself. And that’s Mary’s role.

Mary’s “amen” was her “fiat”

But Mary wasn’t alone here, by herself, when she responded to the Lord’s call. Just as the angel Gabriel’s piece of information wasn’t an exclusive whisper at a short distance to Mary’s ear, so too is Mary’s “fiat”. She was representing all humanity, which includes you and me! Oh yes, Mary is saying, “yes” for us.

We believe, therefore, that our “yes to Mama Mary” is both an amen and a fiat – solemn and divine commitment to serve and save. For Jesus, Mary and ourselves, “Amen”, “fiat” – are all the same. Our yes to Mary is our yes to God. Indeed a solemn one.

Father Larry B. Faraon
Mama Mary’s Movement
Spiritual Director