Annunciation

On this old feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, I found myself reflecting, not on Mary at the Cross, but at the beginning before she said "Yes" to all  this.  In Tanner's Annunciation  Mary looks like she has just been awakened by this angel of light (please click on the picture to enlarge it.)  To me her expression seems quizzical, her hands composed, her shoulders bent a little in humility.
I could not name a single instant when I said "Yes."  It was something that grew gradually in me.  I did remember a time when I was praying in chapel in the college seminary.  I had been thinking for a few years that I might like to go as a missionary to some foreign country to introduce people to Jesus. As I prayed that day, however, I decided that I would rather spend my life helping Catholics to appreciate the great gift of our faith.