Joseph, of the family of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
The angel came to her and said, “Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with you!”
Mary was troubled at these words, wondering what this greeting could mean.
But the angel said, “Do not fear, Mary, for God has looked kindly on you. You shall conceive and
bear a son; and you shall call him Jesus. He will be great, and shall rightly be called Son of the
Most High. The Lord God will give him the kingdom of David, his ancestor; he will rule over the
people of Jacob forever; and his reign shall have no end.”
Then Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel said to her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore, the holy child to be born of you shall be called Son of God. Even your relative,
Elizabeth, is expecting a son in her old age, although she was unable to have a child;
and she is now in her sixth month. With God nothing is impossible.”
Then Mary said, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.”
And the angel left her.
Reflect:
Look at Mary’s response: “Let it be done to me.” Mary was initially troubled at the greeting. Then
she had honest questions about the viability of the proposal. But at the end of it, she has only words
of surrender: “Let it be done.” She claims no full understanding of the project. But she knows that the
agency of the project is with God whom she trusts totally, with her body, mind, and soul. This
willingness “to be done” to her is the epitome of kenosis, emptying of one’s own will so that God can
work in her. This is no static or barren passivity: it is a dynamic passivity within which the three
theological virtues – faith, hope, and love – embrace one another. Jesus inherited the “best genes”:
he had a Father in heaven as well as a Mother on earth who were all about unconditional and
absolute self-gift.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2022