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| Annunciation of the Lord by Leonardo da Vinci |
From today's American Catholic Saint of the Day:
The Story of the Annunciation of the Lord
The
feast of the Annunciation, now recognized as a solemnity, was first celebrated
in the fourth or fifth century. Its central focus is the Incarnation: God has
become one of us. From all eternity God had decided that the Second Person of
the Blessed Trinity should become human. Now, as Luke 1:26-38 tells us,
the decision is being realized. The God-Man embraces all humanity, indeed all
creation, to bring it to God in one great act of love. Because human beings have
rejected God, Jesus will accept a life of suffering and an agonizing death: “No
one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”
(John 15:13).
Mary
has an important role to play in God’s plan. From all eternity, God destined her
to be the mother of Jesus and closely related to him in the creation and
redemption of the world. We could say that God’s decrees of creation and
redemption are joined in the decree of Incarnation. Because Mary is God’s
instrument in the Incarnation, she has a role to play with Jesus in creation and
redemption. It is a God-given role. It is God’s grace from beginning to end.
Mary becomes the eminent figure she is only by God’s grace. She is the empty
space where God could act. Everything she is she owes to the Trinity.
Mary is
the virgin-mother who fulfills Isaiah 7:14 in a way that Isaiah could
not have imagined. She is united with her son in carrying out the will of God
(Psalm 40:8-9; Hebrews 10:7-9; Luke 1:38).
Together
with Jesus, the privileged and graced Mary is the link between heaven and earth.
She is the human being who best, after Jesus, exemplifies the possibilities of
human existence. She received into her lowliness the infinite love of God. She
shows how an ordinary human being can reflect God in the ordinary circumstances
of life. She exemplifies what the Church and every member of the Church is meant
to become. She is the ultimate product of the creative and redemptive power of
God. She manifests what the Incarnation is meant to accomplish for all of
us.
Reflection
Sometimes
spiritual writers are accused of putting Mary on a pedestal and thereby,
discouraging ordinary humans from imitating her. Perhaps such an observation is
misguided. God did put Mary on a pedestal and has put all human beings on a
pedestal. We have scarcely begun to realize the magnificence of divine grace,
the wonder of God’s freely given love. The marvel of Mary—even in the midst of
her very ordinary life—is God’s shout to us to wake up to the marvelous
creatures that we all are by divine design.
*****
From the Book of Common Prayer 2011, here is the Collect for the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary:
LORD God, we ask you to pour your grace into our hearts; That as we have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ by the message of an angel, by his cross and passion may we be brought to the glory of his resurrection; Through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and rules with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (References: Hebrews 2.9-10; 13.9; Romans 1.3-4; 5.2-5; Matthew 1.18-21; Philippians 2.20-21)
Wishing you a blessed remembrance of the Angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary,
