MARY´S YES
The Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord is a total and complete Mary´s yes to God without reservation. It is a conscientious ascent to motherhood. This motherhood of the Blessed Virgin Mary announced to her on the Feast of Annunciation of the Lord 25, March occurs exactly nine months to the Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, 25 December. It is a joyful feast of Mary´s cooperation with the eternal plan of God to save the fallen human race. It is celebrated motherhood of God, of ours and the Universal Church.
The Annunciation occasions a decisive moment in the life of Mary and the entire human history. Mary’s fiat or Mary´s yes was an immediate acceptance of and consent to God’s will for her life: “May it be done to me.” Her yes was total and complete; she held nothing of herself back from God.
This feast of the Motherhood of Mary comes six days after we celebrated the Fatherhood of Saint Joseph on the 19 of March. These are feasts of thanksgiving by us to God, the Father who give us great models of maternal and fraternal faith, hope, and love through Mary and Joseph. The grace of cooperating with God to bring us salvation through His only Begotten Son: Jesus Christ.
OUR THEME
The major theme of our celebration is God´s initiative to save mankind by becoming one with them. This is beautiful captioned by John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” However, this salvific action of God is through the human medium that cooperates with his grace.
St. Paul emphasized this cooperation with God through the Blessed Virgin Mary when he affirms in his Letter to the Galatian 4:4-5. “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” This goes to affirm the fact God does not work in a vacuum. God´s grace always builds on our human nature to bring about our salvation.
In the Blessed Virgin Mary was the fulfilment of the ancient prophecy of God. This is why Mary´s yes is at the centre of the mystery of the incarnation. A full, conscious and active cooperation with God´s fundamental option to save man once and for all through his Son our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
FIRST READING: ISAIAH 7:10-14; 8:10
Prophet Isaiah dealing with the faithless nation of Israel assured them of the only sign that will be given is that of a Virgin who gave birth to a Son. However, not just any son but God´s son through the Holy Spirit. A perpetual habitation of God among me: “Immanuel” in Hebrew “עִמָּנוּאֵל” meaning “God with us.”
This is one of the greatest unfathomable mysteries of our faith and life in general. God becoming man and living among us.
The mystery of the Incantation also is a fulfilment of God promise to Israel since the fall of Adam and Eve. Living promise through Abraham, the patriarchs, the prophets and the people of Israel. It is also the consolidation and perpetuity of the dynasty of David through the Promised Messiah: Immanuel: Jesus Christ.
The Psalmist through Psalm 39: 7-11 articulated the sentiments of Jesus Christ on incarnating or coming into the world to do the Father´s Will. As well as the Blessed Virgin Mary on her total acceptance of the Father´s Will to be the Mother of His only begotten Son: Jesus Christ. With a simple declaration, “Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.”
SECOND READING: HEBREWS 10:4-10
The author of the Book of Hebrews gave us a vivid reason why Jesus Christ came into the world. Namely, that he took flesh and was incarnated to do the Father´s will. The author asserted, “Lo, I have come to do Thy will, O God.”
A will to save humanity through obedience, sanctification and offering of Christ for all once and for all. Something that cannot be attained through animals sacrifice or offering. Rather, through the Precious sacrifice of his only begotten Son Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour of the World.
THE GOSPEL: LUKE 1:26-38
The gospel of Luke chapter one deals with the birth of John the Baptist and the Announcement of Jesus’ Birth. This situates the context of today´s gospel passage, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God….”
The gospel account of Luke on the Virginal Conception of Our Jesus Christ by Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit is a vivid history. It talks of the timeline of six months after John the Baptist´s miraculous conception. It involves an actual historical place: a city of Galilee named Nazareth. It mentions as well as persons involved in this divine plan of redemption: a virgin called Mary betrothed to a young man in the Davidic lineage called Joseph. Within a typical Jewish traditional and cultural setting of, engagement, marriage and family life.
However, the mystery celebrated here is one of the most controversial doctrinal teachings of the Christian faith: namely- Incarnation and the Virginal Birth.
While many believe in the incarnation of God become man and dwelling among men. An occasional phenomenon that is evident when God and the gods mixed with men knowingly and unknowingly. However, it is hard, if not impossible to explain the Virginal Birth of Jesus Christ without an earthly or human father.
Yet, this is a mystery of faith accounted for vividly in the gospel text of today.
MARY´S JEWISHNESS
1. The Blessed Virgin Mary a young Jewish woman was aware of the Messianic promise that is God sending a Saviour to save his people Israel. As well as how frequently, heavenly bodies in form of angels are sent to communicate God´s Will to people and individuals in history.
2. However, the shock and worries in her were why was she the one to receive such an important visit or message from God. She must I have counted herself unworthy of such visit. Yet, one known basic fact of history that is God always chose the lowly, the humble, the weak and the poor to do his will. We see that throughout the salvation history in persons like Abraham, Moses, David, and many historical biblical figures.
GOD´S MESSENGER
3. Hence, archangel Gabriel´s message was clear and straight to the point. “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom, there will be no end.”
4. The angel communicated grace, favour, blessings, assurance, and fulfilment of a prophecy to Mary and indeed the whole of Israel and mankind.
MARY´S FEAR AND WILLINGNESS
5. Innocently and prudently Mary had her doubts which she voiced out without reservations “How shall this be since I have no husband?” in other words, how can I remain a virgin and still become a mother?
6. Her genuine concerning made room for the angel to explain, assure, and console her with the redemptive plan and work of the mystery of the Godhead; the Most Holy Trinity. “The Holy Spirit (God: the Holy Spirit, the giver of life) will come upon you, and the power of the Most High (God: the Father the creator and author of life) will overshadow you; therefore the Child (God: the Son, the Redeemer and Saviour of life) to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
ASSURING GOOD NEWS
7. Further, more revelation of God redemptive plans and works were made known to her about the life of her cousin Elizabeth. That is, her “kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.” This is also an unfathomable mystery and a miracle against all the odds of nature.
8. The angel´s ultimate statement, “For with God nothing will be impossible.” This did not only assured Mary of the impossibility of becoming possible through divine will and power. The whole work of creation is God doing the impossible to human reasoning. It explains how God works in mysterious ways incomprehensible to man.
MARY´S DECISION
9. Mary did not disappoint God like the knowledgeable biblical figures in prophecy and law of God like the high priest Zachariah. The father of John the Baptist, who despite his scriptural knowledge and experience of God´s way doubted his revelation. Neither did she like Adam or Eve who lost faith in God´s providence. Or Abraham who lost faith and hope in God´s promise and took Hagar as a wife without waiting on God.
10. Mary believed and expressed a profound faith and conviction in God amidst no clarity that all and everything is possible through GOD: Generator of life and existence, Operator of life and existence, and Director of life and existence. John, the apostle and evangelist have more clarity on this when he postulated, “All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing that exists came into being” (John 1:3).
11. This is the God with whom Mary placed her life, her existence and her faith when she humbly declared, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”
MARY´S FIAT IMPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGE TO US TODAY
(a) Mary´s courageous YES totally and completely without reservation ushers in a dawn of a new era and change forever the cause of human history: our salvation.
(b) Mary became a believer who listens and practices the word of God. At the same first and only tabernacle of God´s dwelling on earth and the living temple of the Holy Spirit.
(c) Mary´s obedience and submission to the divine will of God even when she did not understand fully what it meant ratified the disobedience and rebellion of Eve who consequently brought death into the world. Therefore, she restores us to life from death, light from darkness and grace from sins.
(d) In the same vein, Mary’s yes to the divine will, was not only a restoration of the fallen human race. It is also the hope of the human race to have God dwell among us forever: Immanuel or Emmanuel.
(e) Her yes is the preservation of life and the deliberate choice for life and motherhood which nurture this life to purposeful fulfilment of God´s divine plan. A deep and profound challenge us in the age of the culture of death.
(f) Mary´s yes is a way of authentic cooperation and participation in salvific work as well as spiritual growth and consciousness of God in us, with us and around us: Immanuel. Authentic spirituality in the age of superficial religiosity that does not habit or incarnate God but inhibit God from modern man.
(g) Mary´s yes is an invitation to us to love God “with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength” (Mark 12:30). In our respective vocations as consecrated, married or single. Thus, bringing God forth to the world through us.
(h) Finally, Mary´s yes make her risk all without any guarantee or security from God or in doing God´s will. She was wholly vulnerable to cultural, religious and societal reprehension, name-calling and even death by stoning.
Any act of Joseph putting her in evidence is condemnation for adultery and the punishment for that is severe. “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such a woman” (John 8:5).
Mary´s yes was a huge sacrifice on her part to do God´s will and to bring forth the Lord and Saviour of the fallen human race. It is the greatest love for a creature towards her or her creator. No wonder, the awaiting heavenly burst for joy at Mary´s yes ensuring God´s Plan was not delayed or stalked or paralysed by fear or lack of faith.
Our Christian life and journey are one of a continuous incarnation of God´s will in us and through us to manifest Christ to all.
OUR PRAYER
Lord God, through the mystery of the Incarnation of your Word, Mary conceived your Son in her heart before she conceived Him in her womb. Open heart, mind and will that we may bring Christ to life for others, and with Mary’s prayers and protection continue to welcome Him into our life, and will build a “Holy House” in us, in our family, in our neighbourhood, community, in the Church as well as in our world devoid of God. Amen.
PRAYER WITH POPE FRANCIS
