1 DEC
December 2
Mary’s Yes
“Let it be to me according to your word.”
Luke 1:38
Reflection
Mary’s “yes” has always moved me. It wasn’t cautious or calculated. It was wholehearted. She didn’t ask for guarantees. She didn’t cling to a plan. She simply trusted, and let her heart open wide to God.
I think of Francis, stepping away from comfort and certainty, embracing poverty not for its own sake but to follow Christ with nothing in the way. That kind of trust still challenges me because it means giving up control. It means saying yes without knowing what comes next. But deep down I know that’s the shape of real faith. Not seeing the whole path, just taking the next step, believing God’s love is already there waiting.
For many years I have valued the tradition of Las Posadas – the re enacting Mary and Joseph searching for shelter and going from house to house and humbly knocking on the doors asking for help.
It reminds me that the question isn’t whether Christ is coming, but whether there’s room for him in me, in my community and in my country to help those in need.
This Advent, I wonder what God is asking of me?
Of you? Maybe it’s something small and quiet.
Maybe it’s life-changing. Whatever it is, like Mary and Francis, we are being invited to say yes.
And to say yes to God means letting go of fear and embracing what he has asked of us. And in the end that yes is the doorway to peace.
So today I whisper, as Mary did:
Yes… Let it be.
Sian Yates TSSF
European Province
Reflective Action
Decluttering with Purpose:
Choose one physical space (a shelf, a bag, a drawer)
to declutter today – not just as a task, but as a spiritual symbol of making space.
As you do, pray: “Make room in me, Lord.”
Donate what you don’t need to a local charity.
Franciscan Quote
“Let us desire nothing else, let us wish
for nothing else, let nothing else please
us and cause us delight, except our
Creator and Redeemer.”
St. Francis of Assisi
Prayer
Señor Jesús,
Como María y José, tú llamas a la puerta
silencioso, humilde, necesitado de acogida.
Ayúdame a quitar el miedo y la prisa.
Haz espacio en mí para
tu luz, tu paz, tu amor.
Que mi corazón se vuelva pesebre,
abierto y listo para tu venida. Amen
CULTURAL insight
Each year during Advent, I take part in Las Posadas.
It is beautiful tradition where we remember Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter.
We walk from house to house, singing and asking for a place to stay, just like they did in Bethlehem.
At first, we’re turned away, but eventually on Christmas Eve the door of the Church is opened , and we’re welcomed in with warmth, food, and celebration.
It’s more than a reenactment.
It’s a reminder to make room in our hearts for Christ, especially in the form of the stranger, the weary, and those in need.
Las Posadas teaches me that God is always arriving.
Awaiting the First Spark
Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Luke 1:38
developmental markers
week 2
In the womb
- Technically, in medical terms, week 2 is still part of the pre-embryonic phase.
- Conception typically occurs toward the end of this week, following ovulation.
- Though there is no baby yet in the traditional sense, the body is preparing the perfect conditions for new life.
- This week, the egg is released from the ovary and begins its journey down the fallopian tube.
- If fertilisation occurs, the zygote will begin forming almost immediately – the very beginning of Christ’s earthly life in Mary.
in the mother
- Hormonal changes are beginning subtly – oestrogen and progesterone are preparing the uterine lining for implantation.
reflection
This stage invites us to sit with mystery.
Life begins in the shadows, in faith, before we see its form.
Mary may not have noticed any physical signs. Yet there might be a deeper sense of intuition or awareness, an opening of the heart before anything can be seen or confirmed.
Spiritually, this mirrors the notion of availability:
Mary’s “yes”, “Let it be with me according to your word”, sets everything in motion, even before she knows the full implications.
The womb is not yet occupied, but the conditions are being made ready.
At the beginning of Advent, we too prepare room in our hearts before we know what Christ will ask of us.
wonderings:
I wonder what it feels like to say “yes” before knowing where it will lead.
I wonder how we can prepare for something we cannot yet see.
I wonder where in our lives God might already be at work in hidden ways.
Journaling Prompts
If you keep an Advent Journal, here are some ideas you could write about;
Mary said yes without a map. Francis stepped into the unknown. What does trust look like for you, today?
Write a few lines as if you were praying these words from your own heart.
”Yes , let it be…”
What are you offering? What are you surrendering?
Where is God gently asking me to trust more fully –perhaps in a situation, a relationship, or a calling?
Draw a simple open door in your journal.
Inside it, write one word or phrase that symbolises your “yes” to God this Advent.
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