Catechesis With Pope Benedict Xvi

Pope Benedict XVI in the Year of Faith: ".. Faced with all this, we can ask ourselves: how was Mary able to live this pathway alongside her Son with a faith so strong, even in obscurity, without losing full trust in the action of God? There is an underlying attitude that Mary assumes in the face of what happens in her life. At the Annunciation she is disturbed on hearing the words of the angel — it is the fear a man feels when touched by the closeness of God —, but it is not the attitude of someone who is afraid in front of what God might ask. Mary reflects, she ponders the meaning of such a greeting (cf Lk 1:29). The Greek term used in the Gospel to define this “reflection”, “dielogizeto”, evokes the root of the word “dialogue”. This means that Mary enters into intimate dialogue with the Word of God that has been announced to her, she does not consider it superficially, but dwells on it, lets it penetrate into her mind and her heart so as to understand what the Lord wants from her, the meaning of the announ