Catholic Things: Feast of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is March 25th. You're probably not thinking about it, but Christmas is nine months away. Hey you know what can happen in 9 months? A woman can make a baby, that's what can happen. Today is the feast of the Annunciation. It celebrates the day that the angel Gabriel appeared to a poor Palestinian teenager, living as an oppressed minority in her ancestors' home, and gave her what had to have been the most overwhelming pregnancy news ever: that she, a virgin, was chosen to give birth to a baby boy, who would be the Messiah that Israel had been waiting for for generations. 

Mary is one of the most inspiring figures of the Bible to me. She gives God a "Yes" that changes the

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course of human history. Mary was the first person to hear the good news that the Messiah was to come. God asked her to bear his son, and she gave yes. If you read the scripture, you'll notice that she says "may your word to me be fulfilled." Even God asked for consent.

Mary is witness the entirety of Jesus's ministry. She is there at his birth and his death. From the yes that she gives today, she will come to know great joys and great pains. In time she will set her son's ministry in motion. But today she doesn't know all that. 

Today she doesn't know that Joseph, the man she is betrothed to, will accept her if he finds she is pregnant. Today she doesn't that she won't be scorned and rejected from her community. Today all she knows is that God is asking something of her. And though the risk seems great, she puts forward her faith and brings up the power to say a full hearted "Yes."

Follow the link to read the story of the Annunciation from the Gospel of Luke.

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a childin her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.