An Advent Message for Us Today – “Let It Be”

As this Advent season comes to a close, we are grateful to share a reflection on Advent written by Ann Rose, a beloved member of the St. Thomas community whose presence and leadership have enriched our parish for decades. Ann has long been a guiding voice in our faith life and, among her many contributions, faithfully leads our Education Hour initiative—an integral part of our Growing in Faith adult education programming that invites our community into deeper conversation, reflection, and spiritual growth.

We are excited to offer this piece as a digital version of the Education Hour initiative. In her thoughtful writing, Ann invites us to pause with Mary at the moment of the Annunciation and consider what it means, especially during a busy and demanding season, to trust God’s presence and quietly say, “Let it be.”

We hope this offering provides space for reflection, peace, and renewed openness to God’s light this Advent season and beyond.

 

15th century fresco of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico in the San Marco Convent in Florence, Italy

 

An Advent Message for Us Today – “Let It Be”

The Conversation in the “Annunciation”

The story of the “Annunciation” in Luke tells us that Mary was initially surprised, troubled, perplexed, and confused when the angel Gabriel appeared to her with the message from God about her part in the Incarnation. It was only at the end of the story that the peacefulness on her face portrayed by Renaissance artist Fra Angelico would have matched how she felt. She had made a choice and was saying, “Let it be….” Our stories are all different from Mary’s, and from each other’s, but her words offer us wisdom in many situations of our lives today.

 

 

Insights from the Beatles about “Let it be”

Your mind might hum along as you read these words:

When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

And in my hour of darkness, she is standing right in front of me

Speaking words of wisdom, let it be.

 

Paul McCartney wrote the song in 1968 and years later described the story behind it:

I was sensing that the Beatles were breaking up…I was really living hard and playing hard…Then one night, somewhere between deep sleep and insomnia, I had the most comforting dream about my mother, who had died when I was only fourteen… in this dream twelve years later, my mother appeared, and there was her face, completely clear, particularly her eyes; and she said to me very gently, very reassuringly, “Let it be.”

McCartney’s mother’s name was Mary, so his reference to “Mother Mary” is first of all to his own mother in the dream. Her words, “Let it be,” are the words that the Virgin Mary said to Gabriel in the Annunciation story as she chooses to participate in God’s hopes for her in the plan of the Incarnation. Mary said “Let it be” as she relaxed into the flow of God’s plan.

McCartney described how he felt after receiving that wisdom in the dream: “I woke up with a great feeling. It was really like she had visited me at this very difficult point in my life and gave me this message: be gentle, don’t fight things, just try and go with the flow and it will all work out.”

 

When might those “words of wisdom” be meant for us also?

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that we can’t fix or control other people or most situations in life, and we get frustrated or angry when we grasp for control and it’s out of reach. The busyness and demands of the holiday season sometimes exacerbate our frustrations. Deep down, we might know that we’re actually yearning for peace more than for control, but we don’t know how to pursue it. The same goes for dealing with Plan B when we were so sure about Plan A. 

19th century painting of the Annunciation by American artist Henry Ossawa Tanner – Gabriel shown as pure light

 

Mary’s words fit some of these situations: She would have had the simple Plan A of a peasant girl in a small, insignificant village in an occupied country. Now she was being asked to be part of an incredibly significant plan, but every aspect of it felt scary, risky, and unclear. Yet she was drawn to the light that she felt from God’s presence through the angel, and after working through her shock and confusion, she must have felt she could trust God to accompany her in the days and years ahead, and she said, “Yes. Let it be.” Being part of the light must have become more important to her than feeling in control. 

 

After “Let it be,” Mary’s certainty on her new path grew….

17th century painting of Mary’s Visitation with Elizabeth by Rembrandt

 

Haven’t we all had the experience of making a choice because after pondering, it seemed like the right thing to do? Maybe we responded to some extent out of obedience to a moral or spiritual standard. But then we were awed when that choice of the new path, perhaps a Plan B or C, began to draw something deep and important within us to the surface. 

Not long after the Annunciation, Mary traveled to be with her relative Elizabeth for three months, sharing their miraculous pregnancies. When she arrived at Elizabeth’s home, her firm, quiet “Let it be” a few weeks earlier had already grown into the enthusiastic, excited, hopeful words of the well-known “Magnificat”:

My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

 

The sense of our gifts and creativity being used in partnership with God, to bring God’s love to people in countless different ways, is thrilling to us like it clearly was to Mary.

 

Finally, how can our times of “Let it be” help spread God’s love?

15th century painting of the Annunciation by Fra Angelico in Cortona, Italy

 

We go through the Advent season each year both in celebration that Jesus came as a baby into the world long ago and also to remind ourselves that he wants to be born into each of our hearts every day. Emmanuel, “God-with-us,” came 2,000 years ago, and we still sing, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” desiring Christ to come deeper and deeper into our hearts and lives. 

In this Annunciation picture, Fra Angelico has put a tiny additional picture in the upper left corner: Adam and Eve leaving Eden (in the Genesis story), symbolizing their journey and our journey into darkness as we walk away from God’s love. Mary’s “Yes” to God represents the reversal of that darkness, the desire to walk in the light, give birth to the light, and do what we can to share the light. And so again, Mary’s “Let it be” can become our “Let it be.” And we too can learn to relax a little more in the flow of God’s love.

 

by Ann Rose