Wasn't Mary's “yes” obedience with no question and no choice?

🔥The question: “Someone powerful gave the order, so did a young girl like Mary have any freedom to refuse?”

🛡️The Church's answer: Scripture does not draw Mary as a tool that moves without thinking. She was startled by the angel's greeting and turned over in her mind what it meant; she asked, “How can this be?”; and after hearing the word she answered, “Let it be done to me according to your word.” The Second Vatican Council likewise teaches that Mary was not simply used as a passive instrument, but cooperated in salvation by a free faith and obedience.

This obedience is not an order to give up your own judgment and your safety whenever a strong person demands something. The obedience of faith is a free response entrusting yourself to God, who is truth and love. If anyone holds up Mary's “yes” to demand secrecy, physical contact, violence, something illegal, or unconditional submission to a leader, that distorts her faith.

🧐If they press further: “Does asking a question mean you aren't obeying?” — No. Mary asked, and she discerned what was meant. An honest question is not the same as a refusal, and free consent can never be manufactured by pressure that tramples information, understanding, and safety.

✨In one sentence: “Mary's ‘yes’ isn't thoughtless obedience; it's the answer of faith she gave God freely, after asking and discerning. It's no excuse for anyone's coercion.”