Mar 31 2008
The Annunciation
Normally this solemnity is celebrated on March 25 but because that day fell during the Octave of Easter, it was transferred to this day. In our prayer intentions for this month we have prayed that the world may understand the importance of forgiveness and that persecuted Christians may continue to bear witness to the Word of God. The Blessed Virgin Mary received the Word of God into her Immaculate Heart and conceived that Word in her womb. Without Mary the Word of God would not have taken flesh, and the world would not have been reconciled to God. Thus we rightly honor Mary and pray that we may surrender to God’s will in our lives as she did in hers. Our reflection is from Pope Benedict’s Angelus Message on March 25, 2007.
The Annunciation, recounted at the beginning of St. Luke’s Gospel, is a humble, hidden event - no one saw it, no one except Mary knew of it -, but at the same time it was crucial to the history of humanity. When the Virgin said her “yes” to the Angel’s announcement, Jesus was conceived and with him began the new era of history that was to be ratified in Easter as the “new and eternal Covenant”.In fact, Mary’s “yes” perfectly mirrors that of Christ himself when he entered the world, as the Letter to the Hebrews says, interpreting Psalm 40[39]: “As is written of me in the book, I have come to do your will, O God” (Hebrews 10: 7). The Son’s obedience was reflected in that of the Mother and thus, through the encounter of these two “yeses”, God was able to take on a human face. This is why the Annunciation is a Christological feast as well, because it celebrates a central mystery of Christ: the Incarnation.“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your Word”. Mary’s reply to the Angel is extended in the Church, which is called to make Christ present in history, offering her own availability so that God may continue to visit humanity with his mercy. The “yes” of Jesus and Mary is thus renewed in the “yes” of the saints, especially martyrs who are killed because of the Gospel.
