Annunciation of the Lord
When Mary said “yes” to God, she couldn’t have had any idea of the string of events that she was setting into motion. God’s plan for every person who would be born on earth from that day forward, including you and me, depended on a young girl saying “yes”.
Of course, she did say “yes” and we know the result.
Mary’s statement “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” can be taken two different ways. The first is the obvious, how could she conceive a child when she was still a virgin? But, there is another meaning, too. In Mary’s time, if women were second class citizens, unmarried women were third or maybe fourth class citizens. How could something as big and important as the angel described to her happen to a lowly virgin?
When you think about it, the second explanation really makes more sense than the first. The angel didn’t say these things were going to happen immediately, he just said they were going to happen. It was definitely possible for Mary to get married first. On the other hand, Mary’s fear that she was too unimportant, too insignificant to be the mother of the Most High makes sense.
What about you and me. Do we feel worthy of great things? God often calls us to do things; some big, some small. In our own way, our decisions can have far-reaching consequences. We’re all part of God’s plan.
A long time ago, a young polish boy said “yes” to God. He made the decision to become a priest. This young man’s decision also had far-reaching results. He would become a priest, then a bishop, then a cardinal and finally the Pope. Young Karol lived in oppression, first by the nazi’s and then by the communists. He saw Hitler’s tyranny replaced by another type of tyranny. It’s hard to say which one was worse.
But today, the iron curtain is gone. Poland is free. Most would say that communism was overthrown largely through the efforts of the Holy Father.
The world today is a better place because young Karol said “yes” when God called.
What about you and me? God has called every one of us for something. For some of us, He called us to be spouses and parents. Some of us were called for ordination. For the very, very fortunate, He called us to both.
God gave us free will. We can always say “no”. But, it’s in saying “yes” that every one of us helps fulfill God’s plan.
Yesterday, I met a lady at the hospital. She’s nearly 90 years old and she’s pretty sick. She wants to die. She told me she didn’t understand why God didn’t take her. We talked about Pope John Paul II. We talked about how sick he’s been, how much pain he’s been in and how his suffering, just like hers, unites them to Christ. John Paul has been an example of how a Christian responds to sharing in Christ’s suffering. I’m sure he looked forward to the day when his pain would end. But like the lady in the hospital, his work on earth wasn’t done.
My new friend has fourteen great grandchildren. I told her that they need her. They don’t want to see her go just yet. I compared that to the millions of people who love the Holy Father. We all have responsibilities to someone besides ourselves.
You never know if you’re getting through to someone. I think I got through to her. She squeezed my hand at the end of the visit and thanked me.
There are two other things you should know. One is that she isn’t Catholic. She’s Presbyterian. Since she’s in the hospital, I’m not sure she even knew that the Pope had died. The second thing is that she wasn’t on my list of patients to visit yesterday. Someone had already seen her. But her roommate was on my list and that’s who I had really come to see. Sometimes, God calls us and we don’t even know it.
I’d like to close this morning with a quote:
I find great peace in thinking of the time when the Lord will call me: from life to life!
And so I often find myself saying, with no trace of melancholy, a prayer recited by priests after the celebration of the Eucharist: At the hour of my death, call me and bid me come to you. This is the prayer of Christian hope, which in no way detracts from the joy of the present, while entrusting the future to God's gracious and loving care.
“Bid me come to you!”: this is the deepest yearning of the human heart, even in those who are not conscious of it
Grant, O Lord of life, that we may be ever vividly aware of this and that we may savour every season of our lives as a gift filled with promise for the future.
Grant that we may lovingly accept your will, and place ourselves each day in your merciful hands.
And when the moment of our definitive “passage” comes, grant that we may face it with serenity, without regret for what we shall leave behind. For in meeting you, after having sought you for so long, we shall find once more every authentic good which we have known here on earth, in the company of all who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith and hope.
Mary, Mother of pilgrim humanity, pray for us “now and at the hour of our death”. Keep us ever close to Jesus, your beloved Son and our brother, the Lord of life and glory.
Amen!
John Paul II
Letter to the Elderly
From the Vatican, 1 October 1999.
Of course, she did say “yes” and we know the result.
Mary’s statement “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” can be taken two different ways. The first is the obvious, how could she conceive a child when she was still a virgin? But, there is another meaning, too. In Mary’s time, if women were second class citizens, unmarried women were third or maybe fourth class citizens. How could something as big and important as the angel described to her happen to a lowly virgin?
When you think about it, the second explanation really makes more sense than the first. The angel didn’t say these things were going to happen immediately, he just said they were going to happen. It was definitely possible for Mary to get married first. On the other hand, Mary’s fear that she was too unimportant, too insignificant to be the mother of the Most High makes sense.
What about you and me. Do we feel worthy of great things? God often calls us to do things; some big, some small. In our own way, our decisions can have far-reaching consequences. We’re all part of God’s plan.
A long time ago, a young polish boy said “yes” to God. He made the decision to become a priest. This young man’s decision also had far-reaching results. He would become a priest, then a bishop, then a cardinal and finally the Pope. Young Karol lived in oppression, first by the nazi’s and then by the communists. He saw Hitler’s tyranny replaced by another type of tyranny. It’s hard to say which one was worse.
But today, the iron curtain is gone. Poland is free. Most would say that communism was overthrown largely through the efforts of the Holy Father.
The world today is a better place because young Karol said “yes” when God called.
What about you and me? God has called every one of us for something. For some of us, He called us to be spouses and parents. Some of us were called for ordination. For the very, very fortunate, He called us to both.
God gave us free will. We can always say “no”. But, it’s in saying “yes” that every one of us helps fulfill God’s plan.
Yesterday, I met a lady at the hospital. She’s nearly 90 years old and she’s pretty sick. She wants to die. She told me she didn’t understand why God didn’t take her. We talked about Pope John Paul II. We talked about how sick he’s been, how much pain he’s been in and how his suffering, just like hers, unites them to Christ. John Paul has been an example of how a Christian responds to sharing in Christ’s suffering. I’m sure he looked forward to the day when his pain would end. But like the lady in the hospital, his work on earth wasn’t done.
My new friend has fourteen great grandchildren. I told her that they need her. They don’t want to see her go just yet. I compared that to the millions of people who love the Holy Father. We all have responsibilities to someone besides ourselves.
You never know if you’re getting through to someone. I think I got through to her. She squeezed my hand at the end of the visit and thanked me.
There are two other things you should know. One is that she isn’t Catholic. She’s Presbyterian. Since she’s in the hospital, I’m not sure she even knew that the Pope had died. The second thing is that she wasn’t on my list of patients to visit yesterday. Someone had already seen her. But her roommate was on my list and that’s who I had really come to see. Sometimes, God calls us and we don’t even know it.
I’d like to close this morning with a quote:
I find great peace in thinking of the time when the Lord will call me: from life to life!
And so I often find myself saying, with no trace of melancholy, a prayer recited by priests after the celebration of the Eucharist: At the hour of my death, call me and bid me come to you. This is the prayer of Christian hope, which in no way detracts from the joy of the present, while entrusting the future to God's gracious and loving care.
“Bid me come to you!”: this is the deepest yearning of the human heart, even in those who are not conscious of it
Grant, O Lord of life, that we may be ever vividly aware of this and that we may savour every season of our lives as a gift filled with promise for the future.
Grant that we may lovingly accept your will, and place ourselves each day in your merciful hands.
And when the moment of our definitive “passage” comes, grant that we may face it with serenity, without regret for what we shall leave behind. For in meeting you, after having sought you for so long, we shall find once more every authentic good which we have known here on earth, in the company of all who have gone before us marked with the sign of faith and hope.
Mary, Mother of pilgrim humanity, pray for us “now and at the hour of our death”. Keep us ever close to Jesus, your beloved Son and our brother, the Lord of life and glory.
Amen!
John Paul II
Letter to the Elderly
From the Vatican, 1 October 1999.
posted by Mike at 9:56 PM
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