December 20:
LK 1:39-45
This is one of my favorite Gospel readings. In this Gospel, Luke show us this Annunciation of
the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary, telling her that she is to be the Mother of God. Gabriel
greets Mary with, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!” Mary was troubled at this greeting
and didn’t know why she should be greeted in this way. Here, we see that Mary is a little afraid
of what is happening. However, Gabriel tells her, “Do not be afraid, Mary.” God tells this to us as
well. He tells us not to fear the future, for we have His favor, as Mary had as well. God says to
us every day that we shouldn’t fear or be apprehensive about the future, for He has made it and
he wouldn’t allow us to face hardship alone. Gabriel, seeing Mary is still scared and questions
how she could be the mother of God, says that God’s power will come upon her and the child
will be holy, and that even her elderly cousin Elizabeth has conceived a son, to prove that
“nothing is impossible for God.” This is another quote for us to evaluate and live by. Through
God, all things are possible. He is all powerful, all knowing, and He wants to love you, He wants
to help you. Sometimes we may think that God can’t possibly do this or that, or He won’t hear
my prayer, etc. But we need to know that He can do anything, but He chooses not to sometimes
because we need to learn lessons, sometimes very difficult ones, ourselves. And the response
by Mary is one that all Catholics and Christians need to live by, “Behold, I am the handmaid of
the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Here, Mary is completely trusting in
God’s plan. She is saying YES to God and whatever will come her way in life. She is trusting in
His plan, even though she might not know the future pain and suffering that she will have to
endure. She is being completely obedient to the will of the Lord in her life. We need to, as a
community of faith and as a culture, trust God and have faith in His plan for our future.