Mary’s faith-filled ‘Yes!’
Reflections on the readings for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (March 25, 2021): IS 7:10-14;8:10; PS 40:7-9,10-11; HEB 10:4-10; LK 1:26-38
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Let us ask our Blessed Mother to help us imitate her in accepting the will of God in our own lives.
On this feast, we have the joy of celebrating the Annunciation of the Lord to Mary His mother, as well as the wonder of His Incarnation. Nine months from today we will rejoice in the birth of Christ into the world. But on this day we recall the coming of the angel of God to tell the young virgin Mary that she has been chosen from all women of all generations to bear the Son of God and Redeemer of the whole human race. We hear that she is naturally troubled by the arrival of the angel Gabriel who calms her fears and tells her the plans that Almighty God has for her. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.… Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:35, 38).
The Blessed Virgin Mary listens to the angel’s message and accepts it with faith and humility. Then Gabriel leaves and Mary stays in a world that is forever transformed. On that ordinary day in that ordinary little town of Nazareth, this Jewish maiden who had spent her short life in doing everything that God asked of her every day, simply said, “Yes!” once again. She always would. Through the power and grace of the Holy Spirit, Mary became the mother of Jesus. Because He was her Son, He was human. Because He was the Eternal Father’s Son, He was divine. And, through Jesus who lived among us, died for us, and rose again, all people of every age are called to the precious life God had always planned. Before the original sin of Adam and Eve condemned us to be separated from Him, we were meant to be united to God as His true children. Now, in that instant when the will of Mary freely chose to embrace the will of God, she became the Mother of God and mother of our salvation. Let us ask our Blessed Mother to help us imitate her in accepting the will of God in our own lives.
