Nov 29.pub

Genesis 3:9-15, 20

Psalm 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4

Ephesians 1:3-6, 11-12

Luke 1:26-38

Summary

Mary is visited by the Angel Gabriel, who tells her that because she has found favor with

God, she will conceive a child, who will be known as Jesus, and will be the son of the

Most High. Mary is amazed at this, and asks Gabriel how she can conceive if she is a vir-

gin. Gabriel replies that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and that her child will be the

Son of God. He also tells her that her cousin, Elizabeth, has conceived a child, even

though she was barren. Mary, with great courage, assents to God’s will as “the handmaid

of the Lord.”

Reflection

Even for saints doing God’s will isn’t always easy, and in this quiet, yet remarkably coura-

geous assent to God’s will, we see the depths of Mary’s faith. We tend to see Mary as

her Christmas card persona…. the ones which portray her as being incredibly serene and

calm. What the Christmas card Mary doesn’t reflect is the risk that she took in choosing

to follow God’s will. In one instant, with one choice, Mary took a leap of faith out of the

secure and orderly path her life had been following, into an uncharted path which had

turbulent and challenging consequences for both her and her family. By saying ‘yes’, she

risks rejection by her family and by her community, she risks shame, judgment and ostra-

cism, because no one could possibly believe the reason for her pregnancy (except for her

cousin Elizabeth).

And yet, despite the danger these risks posed, Mary said “yes” because it is what God

wanted her to do, and because of her complete love and trust in God. Mary has rightly

been called the first disciple and her example of emptying herself of her own needs and

desires to do God’s will is the ultimate model of discipleship for us.

Like Mary, before the Annunciation, most of us lead unremarkable lives. Our days are

regular and mostly fairly ordinary. Faith is a steady backdrop to our lives: we go to Mass,

we pray and we try to lead good Catholic Christian lives. But there comes a time for all

of us, and usually more than once, when we have to

make a decision whether to choose a different path

that is being offered to us, or to reject it. The choice

comes in many forms: which school should I go to,

what career should I follow, which job should I take,

should I marry this person? We certainly won’t have

an angel to tell us what God wants from us. Instead,

we will have to rely on prayerful reflection to discern