Annunciation of
the Lord, March 25
Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10 / Hebrews 10:4-10 / Luke 1:26-38
Albeiro Vargas from Columbia became a “father” when he was only a nine-year-old. He was touched by the poor old people around his town. He formed an association of children called Guardian Angels to improve societal treatment of the elderly and create a model for strong intergenerational relations in Colombia through a program that brings children more closely and more regularly into the lives of older people. Beyond the direct engagement of the inter-generational participants, Albeiro pushes for reforms in legislation and national policy that will shift the current societal attitude towards the elderly.
For example, he has initiated lawsuits against children who have abandoned their elderly parents and waged a successful campaign for the enforcement of a nationwide tax supplying revenue to nursing homes.“How is it
possible?” was the same question many people asked when they heard this story.
With God everything is possible. St. Augustine was quoted as saying: God does
not ask of us the impossible. He may ask us to do the difficult thing, but He
will make it possible.
Today, we
celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation, the proclamation of the Good News
of salvation. It is not only a joyful event but also a very profound
event in God's plan of salvation. Yet for Mary, it was not just an
event; it was for her a mission. And if she said "Yes"
then it was going to be a life-long mission. And it was going to be
difficult. But God assured her it was not going to be impossible. Mary
put her faith and trust in God as she accepted her mission. We live
in difficult and fragile times. We have wars here and epidemics there and all
sorts of things everywhere. Trying to believe and live out the Good
News is not only difficult, but seemingly impossible. Believing that
there can be peace that there can be joy, that there can be love, can be
difficult. But let this celebration of the Annunciation, the
celebration of the Good News of our salvation, remind us that difficulty is not
synonymous with impossibility. We join Mary to say "Yes"
to God because we want to believe that God is greater than any difficulty and
impossibility.
We celebrate
today the solemn feast of the Annunciation. “Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin
Mary,” said the old missal. That was correct, in a way, for the angel came to
announce glad tidings to Mary. “Annunciation of the Lord,” says the new missal.
Yes, this is the day that the good news is announced that she will become the
Mother of Jesus. It is Jesus who is announced. He will be “God-with-us” (1st
reading), who comes to do God’s will by being with us and saving us (2ND.
reading). It’s Jesus’ day, but it’s also Mary’s day. With the same disposition
to serve God and people as Jesus had, she says, I am fully ready to serve – “I
am the handmaid of the Lord.” May these be our words too.
Commentary
The scene of
the Annunciation with its key figures—Angel Gabriel and Mary—is perhaps one of
the most depicted Biblical events in art. But, if I had an artistic talent, I
would love to depict the scene with Mary alone, focusing on the simple but
profound final statement of the event in Luke: “And the angel left
her”. Gabriel came to her with the most momentous of tasks and
waited and waited for her consent. Mary was troubled at heart and had a few doubts.
Gabriel offered clarifications. Mary still did not understand what it all
entailed, but she surrendered herself totally to God’s plan. But the moment
Mary said her “Yes”, the angel left her. There would be no more annunciations
or manifest interventions from heaven. No angel would visit her again. There
would be no miraculous rescue when Herod threatened to kill the child. No
heavenly aid would come to help her find the child Jesus lost in the Temple.
After the Annunciation, Mary would have to ask her path and live out her yes in
the dark light of faith. To her remit, she did it to perfection. Blessed is she
among all women and men who have walked and will walk the face of the
earth.
***
Encountering
Christ:
1. “Fiat”: Mary’s Fiat was “a full ‘yes,’ total, for all her life, unconditional,” said Pope Francis (Angelus, December 8, 2016). “Mary’s ‘yes’ opened the way to God among us. It is the most important ‘yes’ in history, the humble ‘yes’ that overturns the arrogant ‘no’ of the origins, the faithful ‘yes’ that cures disobedience; the willing ‘yes’ that overturns the egoism of sin,” Pope Francis added. She was full of grace and completely conformed to the Father. Mary strove at every moment to fulfill God’s will in her life. We are less perfect, but must strive to give our “yes” to God as does our Mother Mary. “Sometimes, however, we are experts in the half-yes: we are good at feigning that we do not understand what God would like and what our conscience suggests to us,” Pope Francis says (ibid.). We grow in our capacity to say “yes” by becoming full of grace. When we avail ourselves of the sacraments, adhere to our Lenten sacrifices, and love others the way Christ does, our half-yes become “fiats” for the glory of God the Father.
2. Nature of Freedom: Pope Benedict wrote that the lowest type of freedom is choosing between right and wrong. The greatest freedom is to know the grace that God gives and offer it right back to God. This is what Mary freely chose to do, to know that she had received grace beyond measure–“Hail full of grace”–and to offer it right back to God by her “fiat.” It was a choice made out of the greatest possible freedom because she was choosing to do what God desired.
3. Christ Bearers: Mary brought the God-man into this world
through her “yes” to the angel. He encouraged her with the words, “Do not be
afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.” We are offered a multitude of
opportunities to bring Christ into this world—to give of ourselves in kindness,
to swallow our pride, and incarnate Christ through our own personal “fiat” to
God’s will. When we do so, we can take the words of the angel as our own
encouragement: “Do not be afraid, you have found favor with God.”
***
The angel
speaks to Mary
"You shall
bear a son, the Son of God. " A college student composed this meditation
on Mary: "Today I saw a water lily growing in a pond. It had the freshest
yellow colour I'd ever seen. The lily—a precious treasure— was unconcerned
about whether anyone noticed its astounding beauty.
"As I sat
there, watching it unfold its petals noiselessly, I thought of Mary pregnant
with Jesus. She, too, was a precious treasure. She, too, was unconcerned about
whether anyone noticed her astounding beauty. "But to those who did, she
shared a secret. Her beauty came not from herself, but from the life of Jesus
within her, unfolding its petals noiselessly."
***
What role does
Mary play in our own spiritual life? "Hail Mary . . gentle woman . . .
peaceful dove . . .teach us wisdom, teach us love." Carey Landry
***
Today's feast
of the Annunciation is an important event in the Church because nine months
later, the Church will be celebrating the feast of Christmas, the birth of
Jesus. The feast of the Annunciation invites to enter, with Mary, into a quiet
contemplation of the promise of salvation, which was first pronounced by the
prophet Isaiah, and which was later accepted by Mary and fulfilled and
manifested in Jesus. But for now, we are invited to be with Mary, to hear her
say "Yes" to the Lord and to the acceptance of the promise of
salvation.
In other words,
like Mary, we also need to let Jesus grow within us, we let Jesus become
"greater" in our hearts, as we become lesser and lesser of ourselves.
The feast of the Annunciation reminds us that we are sinful and we need to be
saved from the clutches of the evil one and we need Jesus to come into our
hearts and to be made flesh in our lives in order to be saved. And that is the
meaning of the celebration of the feast of the Annunciation. Like Mary, we say "Yes"
to salvation and we say "Yes" to Jesus. When we truly mean what we
say, then Jesus will be able to enter into our hearts and be the center our
lives. Yes, we must continue to be faithful to the "Yes" to Jesus.
One of the ways we can do this is to have a deep devotion to Mary, either with
the Rosary or some other form of Marian devotion. With Mary, we say to the
Lord: I am the servant of the Lord, let what you have said be done unto me.
***
Believing in
God means responding to others. like to recite the creed but tend to limit it
to God and ourselves. We are fond of identifying ourselves as believers but are
apt to exclude others from our identification. We are pleased to receive the
sacraments but are prone to see them as only a one-on-one relationship with God.
By believing, we are automatically confronted by God's needs, i.e., the
needs of others. Believing in God
means responding to others.
For the prophet
Isaiah, King Ahaz was the perfect example of non-belief and hence nonresponse.
In an earlier meeting (Is 7:9) he told the king that if his faith was not firm,
he would not be firm. By refusing to respond to the prophet and thus to the
people's genuine need (not bringing in the neo-Assyrian king), the king
manifested his lack of faith. Ahaz could accept Yahweh but not Yahweh's concern
for others. Ile exemplified the very opposite of the principle that believing
in God means responding to others.
For Luke, Mary
was the perfect example of belief and hence response. By not having Mary ask
for a sign, he demonstrated her faith—a faith which Elizabeth re-echoed:
"Blest is she who trusted that the Lord's words to her would be
fulfilled." By responding in faith to the angel's message, Mary responded
to God's plan. To be the mother of the Messiah meant to be the catalyst for
effecting God's plan. By accepting God's command in faith, Mary accepted a
commitment to the community. At Pentecost, therefore, she naturally found her
place as a member of the prayerful community (see Acts 1:14). In Luke, Mary
typifies the task of the Church: believing in God means responding to
others.
Husbands and
wives who continue to meet their mutual needs by devotion and fidelity
demonstrate their faith. Parents who see their role as Providing for the total
upbringing of their family prove their faith. Leaders who see the community's
problems as their problems give evidence of their faith. Those who lavish love
and affection on the discouraged and despairing show their faith. All such
people see their faith response as a response to the needs of
others. For them, believing in God means responding to others.
Eucharist is
not a gathering of isolated individuals. It is the assembly of believers who
relate the bread and the wine to the needs of the entire community. To admit in
faith the Eucharistic presence means to demonstrate in action the Eucharist
concern—other people. In Eucharist, believing in God means responding to
others.
****
Liturgical
Prayers
Penitential
Rite:
-Sacrifice and
offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me, LHM
-in holocausts
and sin offerings you took no delight, CHM
-Behold, I come
to do your will. We have been consecrated
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all., LHM
Opening Prayer
Our faithful
God and Father, you are indeed our “God-with-us.” Your Son became
one of us, human, born of the Holy Spirit and of the Virgin Mary. He
came to serve and she was the humble handmaid. Make us deeply aware,
Lord, that salvation began with service. Make us ready to serve in
love, as Mary did, together with Jesus Christ, your Son and our Lord for
ever.
On this solemnity of the Annunciation, let us pray with Mary for the needs of the Church and of all people.
– That
the Church may always accept and carry out its vocation of proclaiming the Word
of God faithfully and with zeal, we pray:
– That with the
Lord we may reach out with goodness and tender care to the weak and those
suffering, we pray:
– That those
who have to take important decisions regarding the future of their life may,
like Mary, see how they can best serve God and people, we pray:
– That we may
all become unaffected and humble enough to let God do great things through us,
we pray:
– That all in
our Christian communities may be open enough to God’s Sprit to accept any task
God asks of us, we pray:
Lord God, hear
us as we ask you that with Mary, we may seek your will in all we do. Grant this
through her Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Prayer over the
Gifts
Lord our God,
here are bread and wine as signs of our willingness to be available to you and
to our neighbour. As Jesus could come among people because Mary was
ready to serve, so may your Son now be alive among us because we open our
hearts to you and to those around us, together with Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Prayer after
Communion:
Lord God, our
Father, you have announced also to us today that your Son came among us to be
our life and joy. He has been with us as your living word and our
bread of life. May we grow in his life and, like Mary, by his word
bring a message of liberation and happiness to those in search of life and
meaning. We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.
Blessing
“Here I am to do your will,” says Jesus. “Here I am as the handmaid of the Lord,” says Mary. May these be our words too. They are beautiful, but they are not easy. May God be our strength, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. needs, i.e., the needs of others. Believing in God means responding to others.
