Solemnity of the Annuciation - March 25th

 

“Here I am Lord, I come to do Your Will” “Be it done unto me according to thy word”

The angel Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and said, “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with you”. The greeting, however, troubled Mary. The angel told Mary, She would conceive in Her womb, and bear a son, and call Him, Jesus. The angel said, He would be the Son of the Most High, be given the throne of David, rule over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom would have no end. But Mary could not understand how this could be, because She had made a vow of virginity. The angel told Her the Holy Spirit would come upon Her.

And so, the angel waited for an answer from Mary. God desired Mary respond with a Yes. She could choose either, a Yes or a No. And so, the angel waited, all mankind waited, and God waited, for Mary’s yes. Listen to the beautiful words of St. Bernard in a homily, called “In the Praise of Mary”:

St. Bernard said, “You have heard O Virgin, that you will conceive and bear a Son; you have heard that it will not be, by a man, but the Holy Spirit. The angel awaits your answer; it is time to return to God, whom sent him. We too are waiting, O Lady, for your word of compassion; The price of our salvation is offered you. Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it. David begs it. All the other patriarchs, your ancestors, ask it of you, as they dwell in the country of the shadow of death. This is what the whole earth waits for, prostrate at your feet. …. For your word depends comfort for the wretched, ransom for the captive, freedom for the condemned, indeed, salvation for all the sons of Adam, the whole of your race. Answer quickly, O Virgin! Reply in haste to the angel, or rather through the angel, to the Lord. Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. Open your heart to faith, O Blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desire of all the nations, is at your door, knocking to enter. Arise in faith, hasten to devotion, open to praise and thanksgiving.”

And Mary said, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word.” At that moment, when Mary gave Her “Yes”, Jesus descended from heaven in Her womb, and the world, would be changed forever, because of Mary’s “Yes”. When Mary gave Her Yes, She joyfully responded to Her vocation call to be the Mother of God. When Mary said, “Be it done unto me according to thy word”, it was as though She responded to God’s call, with the words of the responsorial psalm: “Her I am Lord, I come to do your will.”

Many years after the angel’s visit, Mary must have pondered often Her vocation call to become the Mother of Jesus and how God was so good to Her. She probably would have thought, “Who am I, God would send an angel to greet me?” Yet, She understood the importance of the role of Mother of God and totally embraced it Her whole life.

St. John, the Apostle, tells us what happened at the Incarnation. He said, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.” And so, the incredible and unfathomable mystery, of God becoming man, takes place in the womb of Mary. Blessed Pope John Paul II said, “Remembering that the Word became Flesh, that is that the Son of God became man, we must become conscious of how great each man has become through this mystery, through the Incarnation of the Son of God! Christ, in fact, was conceived in the womb of Mary and became man to reveal the eternal love of the Creator and Father and to make known the dignity of each one of us.”

The Incarnation was the beginning of something new and incredible for mankind. God had come to save man and He chose to do so, by taking upon human nature.

The divine person of Jesus took upon our human nature to reveal God to us. God wanted us to be able to see Him, touch Him, talk to Him, to get to know Him, and restore our friendship with Him by becoming one of us. He became man, that we may become one with Him. Through the Incarnation, God reached out to us, to embrace us.

Our Blessed Lord became man, that He may accept death, death on a Cross, that we may have eternal life with Him, that He may dwell with us, and in us, especially through baptism, and through the reception of His flesh and blood in Holy Communion.

Today, on this most Holy Solemnity of the Annunciation, let us praise Mary’s Yes, and for Our Lord’s gift of becoming man, that we may have eternal life with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.