25 March: The Annunciation of the Lord

God is welcomed on earth

It is a familiar scene. God proposes and waits for a response. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”. (Luke 1:26-38).

Mary becomes the Mother of God and of the Savior, and later as she stands at the foot of the Cross, the Mother of the Church. This feast is firstly the celebration of the Incarnation when God began his human life in Mary, a life that will carry this tiny embryo up to the Cross, the Resurrection and the glory of God.

Mary’s receptive attitude to this surprising Word has become a model for every Christian who seeks to welcome the Word of God. In the Gospels, Mary appears as a young, devout and prayerful Jewish woman, who nourishes her daily religious practice with texts and psalms. Familiar with the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, along with the entire Jewish people, she awaits a sign of God’s coming to earth when "a young woman shall conceive and bear a son".

In the Bible episode of the Annunciation by Archangel Gabriel, Luke portrays Mary as the symbol of the small remnant of Israel, poor and humiliated, who lives in expectation of the Saviour. In this plan of salvation, Mary's life represents hope. By offering her womb to give the Messiah a human form, she makes it possible for God's promise to be fulfilled. The Annunciation is, thus, a feast of the Lord because God is welcomed on earth and, with his coming, frees it from evil and sin. It is also a feast for Mary, who receives the Word of God, and for all of us, because, in her poverty, the earth is inhabited by the Lord.