Mary's Joy and Freedom

There was nothing grudging about Mary’s consent to what God asked of her; she responded with a joy that can exist only in one who is truly free. Her joy and her freedom originate in the same source: her consonance with the will of God. Her will is not coerced by God’s will; rather, her will is in perfect harmony with his will…Mary teaches us that in order to find our freedom, we must first lose it, by obedience to God’s will…Self-mastery is the measure of our freedom. St. Alphonsus prayed to the Lord: “I want to do what you ask of me:  n the way you ask, for as long as you ask, because you ask it.”                             Cardinal James Hickey