Sunday Readings: 2 Samuel 7.1-5, 8-12, 14-16; Romans 16.25-27; Luke 1.26-38
“Here I am, God’s servant. Let it happen to me as you say.” – Luke 1.38
Mary, whose body becomes home to God, responds three times in Luke’s story of her call. Three times the angel Gabriel, God’s messenger, speaks to her. To the angel’s greeting, “Greetings, favored one, God is with you,” Mary feel perplexed and wonders what kind of greeting this an be. To Gabriel’s invitation to give birth to God’s Song, Mary questions, “How can this be since I am a virgin?” To Gabriel’s promise the God will do the impossible in her, Mary says yes.
This dialogue outlines the journey in a call from God. The journey moves from perplexity, to certainty the call cannot be, to confidence God can do the impossible in me. The becoming human of God will happen in Mary’s womb. She will feel the first stirrings of salvation within her self. God’s Son will look like her. She will nurse and rock him after he is born.
With Mary’s yes to God’s invitation, the Creator makes a new move. God becomes one of us to reveal who God is. Mary trusts God’s word. In her Magnificat which we prayed as last Sunday’s responsorial, Mary blesses God for showing mercy, for raising up the poor, for filling the hungry. In her yes, she trusts God’s promises to her people and to her.
What is Mary’s importance in your life? How have choices you made in your teen years set your purpose in life?