It is April, yet, we are receiving a Christmas Card in the mail!!! The event announced “binds God and humanity forever.” Coming December, Mary becomes the Mother of God, the new Eve. She becomes the obedient and faithful servant who becomes such an instrumental person in God’s plan for salvation, YOURS AND MINE.

All the Scripture readings, are telling us “be not afraid,” “nothing is impossible with God” “the greatest FIAT we will ever hear.”

Entrance Antiphon: “Behold, I come to do your will, O God.”

The First reading, from Isaiah , foretells what will happen: “the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!”

Responsorial Psalm: “Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.” No matter what the subject or the situation, the response is the same, here I am Lord!

The second reading comes from Hebrews and is foretelling the Sacrifice of Jesus, in order to pay for our salvation. He knows in the past it was usual to offer animal sacrifices, He is now coming to take their place, to be the Lamb of God. We are barely talking about his impending birth and soon after we are finding out about his death. He says, “…as is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.”

We have been giving the backdrop of what is about to happen in a little town of Galilee, called Nazareth. There is a young girl who lives there. On a given day, her prayer is interrupted. This day becomes so significant in Salvation history, that we are celebrating today and we call it “THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD.” An angel, a messenger of God, the name of Gabriel, disrupted her life and ours forever.

His greeting, very familiar to all of us “Hail Mary! Full of grace, the Lord is with you.” Undoubtedly, she was confused and even scared. She proceeded to do what she will do for the rest of her life, “pondered” what kind of greeting that was…

“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.” But Mary responded “how can this be, I have no relations with a man”. The Angel replied, “the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. The child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God”.

Although Mary was probably still deeply troubled, her deep love for God was stronger than any fear she may have been experiencing. In her inner being she knew that nothing was impossible for God. Her profound trust in God trusted her answer…“may it be done to me according to your word.” And the Angel departed…

Looking back at these readings, I would like to ask every one of us, do we trust and love God enough to give Him our Fiats, like Mary did?

Do we really believe there is nothing to be afraid if we are with God?

Are we willing to forego “our will” and replace it for “thy will?”

Thank you Mother Mary, for your unconditional love of God.

Not only do I now have an opportunity for eternal life, but have the most wonderful and loving Spiritual Mother.