March 25--The Feast of the Annunciation

March 25—The Feast of the Annunciation

When the Feast of the Annunciation falls during Holy Week or Easter Week it is moved to another date; this year on April 8.  The Feast of the Annunciation is the great invitation to Mary to receive the gift of the Incarnation within her womb.  It is also the amazing response of a young woman to totally acquiesce to the will of God when she said, “Yes”.  The angel Gabriel greets Mary and proclaims to her the Good News of God’s salvation offered to all humanity through Incarnation of the second person of the Trinity, our Lord, Jesus Christ.  There is so much contained in this short passage (Luke 1:26-38):  The greeting to Mary who is full of grace and thus without Original Sin, the confusion that Mary felt about conceiving a child in a virginal state, followed by the calming revelation by Gabriel of God’s great plan, and the complete acceptance and decision to serve her cousin, Elizabeth.

The whole plan is similar to how we are called, proclaimed the Good News, and sent to go forth in mission.  We are called from our mothers’ wombs by the good and loving Lord that created us and knows us.  We then receive the call to faith in Baptism.  Then the Good News is proclaimed and explained to us throughout our youth and adulthood.  God never forces us to answer yes, but he does give us grace so that we may respond as Mary did.  Our positive response is then turned into a commission to spread the Good News to others and to serve others with the same love that we have been given.  Mary is the first disciple of Christ.  We are her children and are called to imitate her total sacrifice in love.