Significance of the Solemnity of the Annunciation – Reflecting on Its Impact for Us Today | Word and Songs Podcast with Sr. Lines Salazar, fsp
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The story of the Annunciation from the Gospel of St. Luke is most probably very familiar to many of us. But have you reflected in your own life the meaning of Mary’s faithful Fiat or submission to God’s will? Many times, we simply think of Mary saying yes to God in this one particular moment. While her “yes” was very self-sacrificing, we tend to forget that Mary had also duties like us. She continued to live out her faith each day, in the simplicity of the thousand daily tasks and worries of every mother, such as providing food, clothing, caring for the house, etc. Pope Francis said that it was precisely Our Lady’s normal life that serve as the basis for the unique relationship and profound dialogue which unfolded between her and God, between her and her Son. Her accountable yeses each and every day ultimately prepared her for the pain and suffering of watching her son brutally die a criminal’s death on a cross.
On this Feast of the Annunciation, we should ponder what God is calling us to say “yes” to. How is God calling you to live out your faith in your daily life? Is He asking you to say yes to doing the tasks that seem mundane, like folding laundry, cleaning the house, going to the market, and cooking dinner with cheerfulness? Is He calling you to say yes to mental prayer for ten minutes each day? Or, is He calling you to say yes to giving up buying your favorite comfort food each week so you can give alms to the poor? Just like Mary, these little “yeses” can help us grow in holiness and hopefully lead us to heaven.
Mary’s words can become our words. We also are entrusted with this ability. For whenever we say YES to God’s plan, God’s faithfulness is magnified. Pope Francis reiterated this when he said, “The Magnificat… is the song of hope, it is the song of the People of God walking through history…” “It is the song of many saints, men and women, some famous, and very many others unknown to us but known to God: mums, dads, catechists, missionaries, priests, sisters, young people, even children, and grandparents: these have faced the struggle of life while carrying in their heart the hope of the little and the humble.”
As we celebrate today the feast of the Annunciation, “We can ask ourselves a question: do we allow ourselves to be illumined by the faith of Mary, who is our Mother?” “Or do we think of her as distant, as someone too different from us? Friends, in moments of difficulty, of trial, of darkness, do we look to her as a model of trust in God who always and only desires our good? Let's think about this: perhaps it will do us good to rediscover Mary as the model and figure of the Church in the faith that she possessed!”
O most holy Virgin Mary, to whom God sent the Angel Gabriel, to announce that you should be the mother of His Only-Begotten Son, pray for us who have recourse to you. Holy, lovely Mary, we give our all to you, what is past and present, and the future, too. Blessed be the holy and Immaculate Conception, of the most blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. Amen.
