I think of Mary as “passive” only in terms of accepting God’s will for her. When Gabriel appeared to her during the Annuciation, it seems like he said that this is what God wants of you do you accept, and she said yes. Even though accepting meant that she only knew at that point in time the consequences for he would be to bear a child, which could put her in a very dangeorus social position for the culture of her times and what was expected of women in appearances. Joseph would know the pregnancy did not come from him.
Yet, she did not hestitate to say yes to God’s will. She did not say, “let me ask my male guardian or rabbi, and get back to you Gabriel,” which might have made sense as in her time women had no rights to make life-altering decisions or even basic decisions about life. I thought in recognizing the God’s invitation to be an instrumental player in saving the world through carriyng and birthing his son, and having the courage to say yes, and having the faith to trust that God would protect her, even though that the pregnancy might have some difficult implications for her socially, was very active course for her to pursue.
I also think of the marriage at Cana, where she seemed to catapult Jesus’ public ministry, by telling him there was no wine, knowing that he could do something about it. Of course Jesus could have chosen to remedy the situation if she were not there, but there must be a reason that Mary’s role in this story has been included in the Bible. She seemed to do more than just participate as a passive observer.
