Readings
I - Is. 7: 10-14; 8: 10
II - Heb. 10: 4-10
III - Lk. 1: 26-38
ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD (Solemnity)
Today the Church solemnises the annunciation of the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the chosen one of God from among all women that she would conceive and bear the Son of God. The feast engulfs two dimensions viz. Christological and Marian: the incarnation of Jesus in perfect obedience to the salvation plan of God and Mary's 'yes' to the same. Jesus humbled himself in becoming one of us. Mary humbled herself in her absolute surrender to the Lord saying. "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." The feast marks and magnifies the two marvellous virtues of the Mother and the Son; obedience and humility.
The feast challenges as well as encourages us to submit ourselves to the plan of God in obedience and humility. Thus surrendering ourselves to God in faith we become the messengers of the Good News to the poor, weak, marginalised, helpless and the hopeless. May our blessed mother help us in this process as we keep praying: "Blessed Virgin Mary, our mother, pray for us."
