The Feast of The Annunciation

By TOM DENNEHY

On March 25th the Feast of the Annunciation, we celebrate the most significant feast day in the Church calendar. On this day, Mary said Yes to God’s plan to send His son Jesus into the world to die on The Cross for all of us. On this day, Mary said Yes to become the Mother of God.

This changed everything and it is of great significance – that Jesus who is God became a little baby in His mother’s womb so that He could teach us about the love of His Father in Heaven and thus fulfill God’s promise of sending a redeemer to save us from our sins.

In the Gospel story of Luke, we read that God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a virgin, Mary. She was engaged to a man whose name was Joseph of the House of David. The angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth, your cousin has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing is impossible.” Then Mary said, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

The Annunciation marks the entry of The Holy Spirit coming into our world in a powerful way. Jesus is conceived in Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is the same Holy Spirit that hovered over The Earth and brought everything into being at the beginning of Creation. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus is made present to us at the Consecration of the Mass and will remain with us always until the end of time. This same Holy Spirit is very much with us today as helper and guide. He is our advocate, counsellor, comforter, sanctifier and strengthener. We receive the Holy Spirit at our Baptism which includes all the gifts of the Holy Spirit and they are confirmed in us at our Confirmation. It is our responsibility to nurture these precious sanctifying gifts. When we grow in our faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, we receive the fruits of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There are also charismatic gifts which we can receive as we grow stronger in faith.

The Annunciation story raises our humanity to the Divine as Jesus becomes one of us and we are now brothers and sisters in Christ by our baptism and by His death on The Cross we are united with Him and can live forever in His Heavenly kingdom.

From the Annunciation story we have the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary and the Angelus prayer. “The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary…”We also have the first part of the Hail Mary which is the Angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary, “Hail Mary full of grace, The Lord is with you.” The second part of the Hail Mary is Elizabeth’s greeting to Mary when she visited her. She cried, “Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus”.

We also have the wonderful prayer of the Magnificat, Mary’s prayer in praise of God. “My soul glorifies the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God, my Saviour. He looks on His servant in her lowliness; henceforth all ages will call me blessed. The Almighty works marvels for me. Holy is His name! … “ Luke 1;46-55.

Mary is given the title of Mother of God and this was confirmed by the First Vatican Council of Ephesus, held at the Church of Mary in 431. The Council decreed that Mary is the Mother of God because her son Jesus is one person who is both God and man, divine and human. She is mother of the whole human race and we are truly blessed to have a mother who loves us and cares for us and will not rest until we are safely secure in the arms of her son, Jesus.

Mary, Mother of God and our mother, pray and intercede for us.