We heard in today’s gospel that Gabriel said to Mary: Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. And what I like the most in today’s gospel is her answer. Mary’s response is not to say: this cannot happen, but to say: how can this happen? She was leaving open the possibility of God acting in her life.
How is it possible? How is it that so young a person like Mary could totally trust in God and resign from her private desires, from her dreams and future plans? How? Was it part of our human nature? I don’t think so! Was it a miracle God performed for her when the angel appeared, did God interfere with her free will? I don’t think so either! So, what happened then?
To say simply – Mary was full of grace – means that Mary was filled with the energy of God. Look: Holy Tradition teaches that Mary was prepared to be a servant of God. She was raised in the Temple, not an unusual thing for a young girl in those days. There she learned to live a life mindful of God in even the smallest details of life. She was taught, as were all pious Jews, to practice the presence of God. What else could be the purpose of all those laws?
She didn’t know what would ultimately be asked of her later on. How could she have known? How could a little girl at the age of 13 or 14, which she probably was when the archangel visited her, bear to hear such a message?
Scripture tells us that God will not give us more than we can bear. The Lord asked Mary to bear his Son when he knew she would be able to accept it. The request came when the time was right and in direct correlation to the grace that was already in her. She was “full of grace” before the Annunciation. By learning to cooperate with God in the small things of life she made herself able to cooperate with him in the very big thing we call the Incarnation.
These things didn’t occur in a vacuum. There was no magic involved, nor was she forced to obey. The decision was hers to make, YES or NO. This is one of the greatest mysteries, that God limits himself in accordance with our freedom. This makes her agreement even more amazing.
What do we have to learn from today’s feast of Annunciation?
The first message which comes to me from today’s gospel is: God called an ordinary, faithful young woman going about her daily life. Mary wasn’t expecting an angel or the extraordinary words the angel speaks to her. Let’s ponder today in our hearts the thought that God can and does call, and work through ordinary people like us. God will probably not ask us to participate in anything as grand as the Incarnation, but there are many things left to do in this world and we are the ones called to do them. But – and this is the second message – there is one condition for a call from God – we have to be prepared beforehand, we have to be full of grace just as Mary was prepared by her life in the Temple.
How can we do that?
First of all, we need to straighten out those things in us that are out of shape. You know… when we look inside our life and find the things that are unhelpful – as St. Paul says – that cause pain to ourselves and others we must start to jettison them. Where our thoughts, words and deeds are harmful to ourselves and others we need to commit to changing them. It is possible to make real progress in living as children of God by watching what we think, say and do. Mary’s training in the Temple most certainly had this in mind. And this is what it means to purify one’s heart. St. Augustine says: Take a look at your heart and life, everything you see in it that might sadden God, remove. God wants to come to you.
The goal is to allow the heart to “settle like calm water” so that the face of Christ and our neighbour can reflect in the crystal, clear stillness. As long as there is turmoil within, we can expect the same without.
Secondly, we must learn to guard our hearts from all that would keep us from the danger in life’s paths, and pray. An ancient monk – Pseudo-Macarius says: This is the true foundation of prayer: keeping watch over your own thoughts and giving yourself to prayer in great tranquillity, in great peace… push ahead towards God…
Most of all we need to believe that God loves us and wants to come to us. God desires above all to reveal himself to us. Ask yourself this question: How often in my 24-hour day do I consciously touch God? He is there all the time. He can be touched at every moment. The only thing that is lacking is the effort needed which is really, in the end, very small. We are like Mary in this respect: we share the same nature and have the same potential. We differ only in that potential’s fulfilment.
How much do we really want to do the will of God? If we desire it deeply, he will empower us to fulfil it. But do we desire to do the will of God with all our heart? If not, then God must wait for us to get to the point where our hearts are open before he reveals to us what he wants us to do.
Hail Mary full of grace – pray for us!
Tomasz MAMELKA - Timperley 