May the Lord give you grace and peace in the Holy Spirit. It is on 20th December 2022. We reflect on Isaiah 7:10-11 and Luke 1:26-38.
What sign are we looking for during this time of the year?
God offers more than one sign to show what God wants for us. The signs of God are the visible assurance of God’s presence with us. God shows interest in us and in the way we are and so God greets us.
Except for God, no one is interested in listening to our problems. 90% of people are not interested in listening to our problems and the remaining 10% wish that we are in it.
God’s greetings are not a formality or a formal expression but disturb our very living life.
“Greetings favoured one! The Lord is with you.” God’s greeting assures God’s presence and the person near us.
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.” God’s greeting empowers us to see good in ourselves. We too in a certain sense favoured ones of God because of our faith in Her Only Son Jesus. King Ahaz was threatened by the alliance and refused to have allegiance to God. The king too could have become a favoured one if he would have accepted God’s approach.
“For nothing will be impossible with God.” God never retreat from our anxiety, worries and fear. God’s greetings eject all our irrational fears and lead us to have reverential fear like that of Mary, our Mother and Example.
Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” We all need to hear God’s most affirmatively positive statement to respond on the same wavelength. What will be our response to God?
The Annunciation to Mary reminds us that the Word became flesh, a reality that happens in every Eucharistic banquet we participate in and celebrate.
Advent is the time; God patiently waits for our response when God initiates God’s affectionate greetings. Mother Mary remains a model to all of us to respond to God in a way God wants it. May God bless you.