Sunday Gospel Reflection
Fourth Sunday of Advent
Luke 1:26-38
When do we give our “YES”?
Bro. JM Nuqui
The fact that you are reading this means that you are using social media and that the concept of “notification” is not new to you.
“Bing, bing.” I hear this sound every once in a while when someone messages me or when my celebrity crush has posted a new photo in Instagram or when my parcel in Lazada is already being delivered or when there is a new update in Mobile Legends.
But even though these notifications are very attractive, there are times, especially in FB Messenger, during which I do not open the messages of others because I am afraid of what they may contain: trabaho, favors, pakisuyo, invitation to eat outside when I do not have money, etc. Opening them might just give me unsolicited work or commitment when my plate is already full. I do not simply give my yes.
But Mama Mary, in our Gospel for today, teaches us a more radical kind of “YES.” I wonder if she ever had a smartphone like us and got notified with a “bing, bing” when she was messaged by an unknown person named Angel Gabriel, how would she have responded? “Ay hindi ko muna i-press, baka ma-‘seen’ ko eh” or “Ui, stranger, bakit kaya nagmessage to? Buksan ko nga.”
My dear friends, we give our YES when we completely trust the person to whom we give this precious three-letter word. This reminds us of wedding engagements or busi-ness agreements. Trust is necessary for our YES. But Mary teaches us that trust is not enough. Generosity and selfless self-giving are necessary.
In our fast paced and egotist world, we often ask, “What’s in it for me?” We always weigh first what we will receive before we give ourselves to some task or cause. “Bago ko ibigay sarili ko, kailangan may makukuha muna ako.” Mary, on the other hand, be-came radical by asking a different question: “what can I do for this?” “Ano ba ang ma-aambag ko para sa iba?”
So, how’s your email inbox or your Messenger App? Are there still unread messages? When are you planning to read them and give your most generous YES? And in the next notification that you will receive, how will you now respond? In a matter of five days, we will celebrate the fruit of Mary’s YES—the birth of Jesus. May our brother and sisters meet Jesus in our simple and day-to-day YES.
