“Fiat” and “Nunc” are Latin for “Yes” and “Now.” Together, they are the story of the Annunciation. They are also the story of our participation in its mystery.
The Angel declares to Mary that she is invited to be the Mother of God. Mary ponders, questions and in the end, renders her emphatic Yes! Fiat! to God’s will for her, not only at that special moment but throughout her entire life. Before, during, and ever after this moment, God’s will and Mary’s will are but one will: God’s.
Mary is mother. She teaches her son this same Fiat! disposition before God’s will. For this reason, Jesus will later affirm that “I do always the will of the One who sent me.” Between the Father’s will and Jesus’ will, there is but one will: God’s.
For Francis de Sales, the Fiat disposition of Mary and Jesus is the essence of both Christian life and Salesian Spirituality. Whatever God asks, we say Fiat! Yes! Whatever God permits, we say Fiat! Yes! In this way, Jesus continues to live in us and to act through us in our world today.
The Fiat disposition is the vocation of every Christian. To concretize our Christian vocation, Francis and Jane stress its Nunc or NOW aspect: What is God’s will for me at this present moment or circumstance, in this event or with this person? What is the virtue that I am called to practice here and now? What is the kind word, the compassionate response, the helping hand, or the accepting, forgiving, or encouraging word that I am here and now called to speak?
Late in his spiritual masterpiece, the Treatise on the Love of God, Francis gives us a very important bit of spiritual advice. For the mysteries of our faith to become integrated into the very fabric of our daily lives, we must embrace them in the deepest personal manner. They must speak personally to each of us with the urgency of NOW. Thus, the mystery of the Annunciation must not speak only of Mary, but it must also speak of you and me in such a manner that we live its truth as deeply as she did, not in the abstract but in the nitty-gritty of our daily lives with God and others.
As his mother, Mary taught her Son the disposition of fiat and nunc before the divine will. Let her, our Mother, teach us as well!
Rev. Lewis S. Fiorelli, OSFS
Provincial
Wilmington-Philadelphia Province
