HERE I AM LORD, I COME TO DO YOUR WILL(Isaiah 7:10-14;8:10/Psalm 40:7-11/Hebrews 10:4-10/Luke 1:26-38)

HERE I AM LORD, I COME TO DO YOUR WILL

(Monday March 25, 2019 The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord)

Today the Holy Mother Church celebrates the Annunciation of the Lord. Normally, the Solemnity of the Annunciation is celebrated on March 25. This date is used because it is nine months before Christmas (25 December) and it is assumed that Christ spent the normal nine months in the womb Our Blessed Virgin Mary. This is one of the movable feasts in the Church’s liturgical calendar that is celebrated before or after Easter because at times 25 March normally falls during the Holy week period. Whenever this solemnity occurs during Holy Week, it is transferred to Monday after the Second Sunday of Easter. It is important and so, it cannot vanish from the liturgical calendar of the Church.

The Church accords this feasts its full respect because of its role in the history of our salvation. This feast reminds humanity that God works at the appointed time and He is not a promise and fail God like some of us do always. Before announcing the birth of Christ by Archangel Gabriel, Mankind might have thought that God has forgotten the promise He made to our first parents; Adam and Eve at the garden of Eden immediately after their fall.

This feast set out to clear the doubts that God has never changed. He is God yesterday, today and always and whatever He says either yesterday or today must surely come to pass one day either to the people who receive the promise directly or their descendants. As in the case of Annunciation, we are the immediate beneficiaries of the promise made to our ancestors and forefathers millions of years.

The Annunciation, also referred to as the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Annunciation of Our Lady, or the Annunciation of the Lord, is the Church celebration of the announcement by the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, marking His Incarnation. This is a joyful annunciation because it is aimed towards salvation. On this day, we commemorate also that day when the Archangel Gabriel came to the small, poor and humble village girl of Nazareth in Galilee, to break the news regarding the end of the long wait for the coming of the Lord’s Promised Messiah. And thus, the Feast is called the Feast of the Annunciation of our Lord, because, on that day, His arrival and entry into the world was first announced.

And today, the theme of our Scripture readings is obedience and obedience that entails true and genuine desire to obey the will of God and to listen to what the Lord wants from us.

In the first reading, King Ahaz refused to hearken and follow the instruction given to him by the Lord. The second reading, the letter to the Hebrews portrayed the kind of obedience Christ manifested while coming into this world with the following expression “You did not want what the Law lays down as the things to be offered, that is: the sacrifices, the oblations, the holocausts and the sacrifices for sin, and you took no pleasure in them; and then he says: Here I am! I am coming to obey your will. It is the same act of obedience that Our Blessed Virgin Mary showed during the Annunciation. Though She was afraid of losing Her Virginity because of the vow she had already made to God. The only question she asked when this announcement that will bring salvation to mankind came to her was “how can this come about since I am a virgin? However, when She was assured how the whole drama will happen, Mary responded in humble obedience and total surrender to the will of God saying “I am the Handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word” Indeed, it was this response and Mary’s acceptance and obedience that brought about the completion of this announcement and what we are really enjoying today; both the feast of Christmas on 25 December and the great Feast of Easter.

All link to the feast of today. Our unalloyed gratitude, first of all, goes to God who remembered our poor condition and deemed it fit to fulfil during our own time the long-awaited promise He made to our forefathers and ancestors. Secondly, our vote of thanks goes to Our Mother Mary who not only listened to the message but accepted and obeyed and cooperated with God for the fulfilment of our salvation. Going back, the mystery of the Annunciation is a test of wills. It was a test of the will of Mary and Joseph and everyone close to them. How can they accept the birth of one when Mary and Joseph were still to be married? But with God, nothing is impossible. His will should be enough assurance of His presence and guidance. Both passed the test. Aware of the consequences, Mary and Joseph abided with the will of God. Later, the very Son who will be born also would show this attitude. Jesus obeyed His Father even unto death. This feast is a reminder to us of the importance of following God’s will. It is His will which should prevail more than anyone’s will. God knows the best for us. Just like Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, following of God’s will, let us always pray and make ourselves available for the work of God and allow the will of God to prevail always in our lives.

Let Us Pray: Lord Jesus, as we celebrate this feast of the announcing of your birth by the Angel may we receive Good News in all aspect of our lives and may your will be done in us always. Amen.