4th Sunday of Lent

This Wednesday, March 25th, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord - nine months to the day of his birth in Bethlehem. The Gospel for the day is Luke 1:26-38, and it describes the event of the Annunciation, and encourages us to follow the example of the Blessed Virgin Mary by placing our trust in God. The Archangel Gabriel greeted Mary with “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” These words brought confusion to Mary and troubled her. The angel spoke again telling her “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Then we hear the angel’s announcement that Mary has been chosen by God to bear His Son, Jesus. For her part, Mary was uncertain of how this could be possible, but when the angel revealed that the “power of the Most High” would make all this possible, Mary was willing to respond: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary trusted God’s plan for her even though she did not fully understand it. To be part of the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Messiah must have filled Mary’s heart with joy and more than a little bewilderment as well.

There is so much we can learn from this Annunciation. Mary knew God, she placed her trust in Him even when she must have had unanswered questions in her mind. What would her family think? How would Joseph react to this turn of events? How would she manage all that being asked of her?

We know about human trust. We go to people we know when we need advice about decisions that affect our daily living
our careers, our health, our family relationships. How much more readily should we go to God, whom we come to know through Jesus Christ, for the decisions we make concerning our spiritual lives? We turn to God in faith and reason. In his papal encyclical “ Fides et Ratio” (“Faith and Reason”) Pope Saint John Paul II states: “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth
in a word, to know himself
so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” In his words and actions, Jesus showed us his Father and remains with us through his Holy Spirit and through the Sacraments, especially the Most Holy Eucharist. This is the God we can know and trust with our immortal souls.