Mary's careful listening to the movement of the Spirit in her life and her assent to what she believed was God's call are central to the Gospel message on this Marian holy day.

    For Christians, vocation is an invitation to follow Jesus: Come after me, be my witnesses. It is an invitation to discipleship that is much, much more than an "assent of the heart," demanding a radical commitment to a way of life that is as counter-cultural now as it was in first-century Palestine...