This blog is an article for the Together Paper of Wagga Wagga Diocese March Edition.
On 25 March, we pause to remember a moment that changed the course of human history.
Not by grasping. Not by pushing. But by receiving.
This was the moment Mary of Nazareth, “the favoured one,” was approached by an angel of God with an invitation for her life – to become the Mother of our Saviour. To what extend Mary understood the fullness of the Yes that she gave and what it would involve, I don’t know. But what I do know, from her example, is that when God wants to give something, it is always good and it is always by invitation.
In her Fiat (Latin: “Let it be done”), Mary, the “New Eve,” shows us what our heart’s posture ought to be towards God. Where the first Eve disobeyed and grasped at what was Only God’s to give in the Garden of Eden, the New Eve waits. Not passively, but actively – living her life for God, following His will each day, and when God invites her to receive Jesus, she responds with receptivity. God gives freely and invitationally, and she in turn opens her heart to receive Him, the fruit of her womb.
Although none of us are called to be her, we are all called to be like her. Her receptivity is a beautiful example for the Church in what it looks like to be open to taking in God and the call He has for us – to hear His promptings, to listen to His Word, to receive Him and to bear fruit in our lives.
When Mary opened herself to bring Jesus into a desperate world in need of redemption, she showed us how our openness can bring Jesus into the different and difficult parts of our world today too. Through our receptivity, others may encounter Him, be transformed and redeemed. But this must begin with our openness to God first.
Receptivity is the building block for growth in all the virtues because genuine growth in virtue requires grace. And grace is a gift that we can choose to accept from the abundance that God constantly pours upon us. That grace sustains our entire lives. It is only from there, coupled with humility, that we can stand before the God who created us and love in the way that He calls us to love. Truly loving God and neighbour.
As we approach the end of the season of Lent, we have a beautiful opportunity to make space for God rather than simply doing more. Fasting creates space in our bodies to recognise our longing for Him. Silence creates space in our environment to turn the dial down on the noise of the world and allow God’s whispering voice to become clearer. Giving to another creates space in our lives to see that God provides for us in abundance.
Often, God allows us to encounter Him in another who might be sitting in a pew very near us.
- We receive a smile from someone at church.
- We receive feedback.
- We receive help.
- We receive forgiveness.
- We receive silence.
- We receive another’s gift with gratitude rather than comparison or jealousy.
Receptivity is not abstract – it is lived in relationship.
Receptivity also helps us to receive the truth of who we are – our identity as beloved children of God. When we anchor our identity in what we do, the roles we hold, or the successes we achieve, we grasp at an identity. But when we receive our belovedness, we do so from a place of humility – not having worked, earned or achieved anything, but by simply being His child.
Our growth in virtue flows from having received our identity from God and then remaining open to His grace as it comes through opportunities, relationships and formation. We cannot grow closer to God and become more like Christ without being willing to receive Him and receive from Him, often through the people around us.
This posture of receptivity is not seasonal – it is a way of life.
As the Living Fullness Podcast returns for a 9th season, this is the posture we are seeking to take up – not merely to provide answers, but to receive God’s will for the podcast, and to explore what it means to live fully and honestly in Christ, and receptively in our everyday lives.
Written by Stina Constantine
Founder & director of Virtue Ministry and keynote speaker