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December 20, 2021Today we hear about a young teenage girl, betrothed to St. Joseph, who suddenly has her life turned upside down. Imagine being in her shoes! We read that at the greeting from the angel Gabriel, she was greatly “troubled by what was said.” What? I mean, there have been times when God was calling me to something higher and I was troubled by these callings, but that’s because I didn’t really want to go through the difficulty of developing some virtue or letting go of some attachment. How could Mary, conceived without Original Sin, respond like me, a sinner?
I think the answer is that Mary was a human being like us; as such, Mary could experience fear of the unknown, suffer pains of humankind and those that only mothers will know. However, unlike the rest of us, she responded to all things perfectly; so, she “pondered” the greeting of Gabriel, whereas many of us may have run. Finally, when all had been explained, though none of it makes rational sense to us, through faith, Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
On this day, five days from the coming of the Newborn King, let us pause to reflect on the herald of God in our lives. Do we let fear take hold of us and control us, or do we ponder for a moment and remember that we are servants of the Lord, called by faith to things extraordinary in service to the Lord? Let us pray that we learn to quiet our hearts and ponder the greeting of the Lord and live according to what we hear in Faith just as our Blessed Mother did.
