December 4: "do not be afraid of Mary"

"DO NOT BE AFRAID, MARY"

Mary "was disturbed" not by the vision but by the message, "and wondered what sense such a greeting made" (Lk 1,29:1,30). The angel's words contain two revelations: he will conceive Jesus; and Jesus is the Son of God. That God invites a virgin to be his mother, it is a completely extraordinary fact and vocation, it is an act of trust and love on the part of God: it means that the Almighty has esteem for her up to call her for such a big assignment! The unexpected initiative surprises Maria and arouses feelings of unworthiness in her but also awakens the marvelous discovery that God counts on her; the adolescent Mary sees herself offered by the angel the extraordinary gift that every Jewish woman dreamed of: becoming a mother and mother of the Messiah. How not to be upset? "Do not be afraid, Mary, - says the angel - because you have found grace with God". The Virgin startles at being called by name, but then the angel continues: «Here, you will conceive a son, you will give birth to him and you will call him Jesus. He will be great and called Son of the Most High; the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father and will reign forever over the house of Jacob and his kingdom will have no end "(Lk 33: XNUMX-XNUMX). The reference to the Most High, a name that the Jews used with fear and veneration, fills Mary's heart with a deep sense of mystery. Infinite horizons open wide before her.

PRAYER

Help us, O Mary, to be like you, a pure earth, totally handed over to the fertilizing forces of the Spirit, so that Emmanuel, who in his human nature bears the mystery of the Son of God, may be born in us too.

FLOWER OF THE DAY:

I will commit myself today to ask forgiveness from someone I have offended