Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

“Do not be afraid, Mary,

for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”

During the Mass the priest breaks the consecrated bread into smaller pieces as the congregation recites the “Lamb of God.” And then he should pause for a moment of silent prayer. During this very personal moment he may say one of two prayers. I have always preferred the first. Here is the new translation for that prayer:  

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,

Who by the will of the Father

And the work of the Holy Spirit,

Through your Death gave life to the world;

Free me by this, your most holy Body and Blood,

From all my sins and from every evil;

Keep me always faithful to your commandments,

And never let me be parted from you.

This wonderful prayer certainly expresses my own earnest desire for purity of heart, fidelity of spirit and eternal life.

But, I confess, for more than half my life I have added another phrase to the prayer:  

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God,

Who by the will of the Father

And the work of the Holy Spirit,

Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

Through your death gave life to the world;

Free me by this, your most holy body and blood,

From all my sins and from every evil;

Keep me always faithful to your commandments,

And never let me be parted from you.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe understood Mary as that sinless, most blessed and worthy woman whom God could not refuse when she prayed for the Messiah. Her prayers represent the prayers of her own Jewish people, of all human beings, of every earthly creature and of the entire universe groaning for redemption. After centuries of cultivation in the Garden of Abraham and Sarah, the Lord brought forth a woman of complete innocence, deep wisdom, and absolute fidelity. Obediently conforming to the zephyrs, gales and gusts of the Spirit, she knew what God wanted and what every human longs for. Daily she prayed that God would fulfill his promise to her beloved Jewish people.

And God heard her prayer; and the Word was made flesh.

Mary is not separated from us by her purity; rather, she is bound to us by the spirit that draws us together in purity of heart. She prays for us and with us as we pray in God’s Spirit, which is the Spirit of Jesus and her spirit. Pope John Paul rightly called her the Daughter of God the Father, the Mother of God the Son, and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit. Whatever God wants is what Mary wants; and, it follows, whatever Mary wants God wants. The Spirit that moves each of them is the Same.

I see a duck and drake flying together, watching one another, deciding without words where to fly and when to land. Each knows what the other wants and neither leads nor follows. This is the unity that a married man and woman strive for. After a lifetime of devotion, sacrifice, discussion, disagreement, compromise, decision and prayer their separate wills become one sanctified covenant. Even when separated by distance or death, they think and decide alike. So does Mary move with God; they are of one will. 

 

On this Feast of the Annunciation, nine months before Christmas, we celebrate God’s choice of Mary. By the “immaculating grace” He gave at her conception, now come to ripeness in the young woman, He found her worthy to be the Mother of God.