This year the great Solemnity of the Annunciation falls in the Fifth Week of Lent, giving us an essential Lenten message. Our wise Mother Church sets before us once again the fundamental decision of life: will we live for God or against him? We reflected on this decision at the beginning of Lent, as we read from the Book of Deuteronomy on the Thursday after Ash Wednesday. Moses challenged the Israelites, and us, to choose life. Today the Church challenges us to evaluate our Lenten journey with Mary as our model.
In today’s first reading, we see King Ahaz make the decision to follow his own will and not the will of God. He says that he does not want to “tempt the Lord,” but Isaiah points out that the king’s constant focus on himself and his refusal to trust in the Lord has the effect of “wearying” God. We know the consequences that decisions against God, that is, sins, have on us and on the whole human family. The history of our race is full of wrong choices that have had major disastrous consequences, starting with Eve’s choice to listen to Satan and disobey God. Our first parents’ sin resulted in immeasurable loss: they and their descendants were banished from the Garden of Eden. Ahaz follows this miserable legacy of sin. Let us recall today that when we also make wrong choices, we harm ourselves and others.
Despite the many sins and weaknesses of God’s people throughout history – which we would think would weary him to the point of giving up on us – God continues to love us! He knows how weak and selfish we are, he knows the punishment we deserve, but his mercy conquers his justice, and he decides to take the punishment on himself by sending his Son into the world as a human being. This remarkable plan is revealed to Ahaz in the famous prophecy of the virgin who will bear a son, a son whose symbolic name means “God is with us.”
Today’s Gospel recounts the marvelous moment when Isaiah’s prophecy is fulfilled: the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary. Mary, chosen by God to be the Mother of his Son Jesus, says yes to God when the divine plan is set before her. With the strong faith of Abraham, she believes that nothing is impossible for God. She relies not on human knowledge or wisdom but on God’s word. Mary’s response to the angel is the perfect reversal of the sin of Eve, the perfect example how to say yes to the will of God with humility, selflessness, and obedient faith.
When Mary said her yes, her fiat – “May it be done to me according to your word” – Jesus became incarnate in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. As John’s Gospel says, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14). We celebrate the Incarnation at Christmas time, welcoming the birth of Jesus with joyful festivities. But the Incarnation began nine months earlier; Jesus’ life began on March 25, not December 25. At Christmas he became visible to us, but for nine months God was hidden in the silence and darkness of Mary’s womb, truly a baby of flesh and blood, like every child in its mother’s womb.
This great feast offers us much to ponder, especially during this Season of Lent. By striving to imitate Mary’s virtues of humility, obedience, and faith, we open our hearts to the hidden power of the Divine Word. Her response to the angel reflects today’s Responsorial Psalm: “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.” All the fasting, prayers, and sacrificial offerings we make, and any other Lenten practices we may perform, are worthless in the eyes of God if we do not choose to do his will. “Sacrifice or oblation you wished not, / but ears open to obedience you gave me. / Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not; / then said I, ‘Behold, I come.’”
Let us not spoil our Lent with the self-willed spirit of Ahaz! Rather, let us welcome God’s will with the inner disposition of Mary. In our lives, the word of God and the will of God are inseparable: as we ponder the word of God in our hearts, we say yes to his will.
When do I tend to follow my own will and not the will of God? What are some of the wrong choices I have made which harmed me and others? When have I experienced great peace and joy in surrendering myself to God with a total “yes” to his plan for me?
Excerpt from The Anawim Way, Volume 22, no. 3. More information about The Anawim Way may be found here.