Happy Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. The readings for today can be found at http://usccb.org/bible/readings/032514.cfm. As always thanks for reading, sharing and your feedback! God Bless - Fr. Jim
HOMILY:
Why is Mary so revered by Catholics?
We can look at some of her many titles and attributes coming
from Scripture – Mother of God; Full of Grace; Most Blessed - and those
indeed tell us how special she is.
We can reflect on how as Jesus hung on the cross, He gave
Mary, His Mother, to us saying “Behold your Mother.” In that He was
establishing a new relationship of Love between her and all disciples as our
Mother.
But it’s something more. An interesting paradox
particularly revealed in today’s Solemnity of the Annunciation. We hear
the Gospel account of how the Angel Gabriel brings Mary this amazingly good
news that would seem to distance her from us. Yet, at the same
time, this Gospel reveals what ties Mary to us in an intimate way; in her
dialogue with the angel, we see the pattern for how God works in our lives as
well.
Fr. James Martin, S.J., in his new book
entitled Jesus: A Pilgrimage, expands on this in a beautiful
chapter that reflects on today’s feast day entitled simply, “Yes.” In
this chapter, Fr. Martin shares how we see glimmers of how what happens to Mary
happens to us. To summarize, he points out that:
-
God
initiates the conversation. And as much as we might bemoan
that we don’t have heavenly visitors communicating to us in a similar fashion
to Mary (careful what you wish for on that by the way…) – the reality is
that we can see how He breaks into our lives in unexpected ways: perhaps a scripture
reading, a friends comforting words during a time of great distress or
vulnerability, or a spectacular sunset that leaves us in awesome wonder of the
greatness of creation and moreover our Creator. Those are the beginnings
of God’s conversation with us.
-
When
that reality clicks - when we realize God is speaking to us - sometimes we’re
excited, or grateful... sometimes we’re like Mary - fearful. We might
struggle in wonder at our littleness in light of the awesomeness of our creator
who is paying attention to us and ask, “who me?” We
argue…And at that moment, the angel speaks the words to Mary that her son Jesus
will say over and over throughout the Gospels: Do not be afraid…
-
But humanity clicks in… and like Mary we wonder How
can this be? That’s a common question - whether it’s something where
God intersects in proposing something wonderfully new or when we experience
some darkness in our lives. How can this be is another universal
question that all humanity – disciple or not – asks at some point.
-
The response to that question, in either of
those situations, we find in this interaction with Mary and the angel.
The angel invites her to look around – look at your cousin Elizabeth – look at
what God is able to do! Remembering what God has been able to do in the
past is essential in embracing the future – however dark, however mysterious or
shrouded it might appear.
-
In that, Mary’s confidence is renewed to say Yes…
to which Fr. Martin shared part of a poem called “The Annunciation”:
But we are told of meek
obedience.
No one mentions
courage
The engendering Spirit did not
enter her without consent.
God waited
That’s why this feast should fill us with joy and cause us
to align ourselves even more closely to Mary… How God Loves us!
He initiates the conversation
He intersects with our lives
He invites us into His story
He comforts us in our fear at accepting this radical change by
reminding us of all He has done and continues to do for us.
He trusts us, humbly waiting for us to say “Yes.”
May Mary our Mother pray for us that we will have her
attentiveness, her courage to accept what it is God is inviting us to be a part
of. To say “Yes” to Him – and to be surprised by the results; see
the blessings multiplied in ways we can’t anticipate; see our lives and the
lives around us changed.
That’s what the Annunciation promises us – when we say Yes
to God, the world is completely transformed.
