Message of Abbot Paul - Friday 25th March
Message from Fr Paul for Friday, 25th March 2022
Today we keep one of the most important feasts in the Church’s calendar, that of the Annunciation. It really should be a holy day of obligation, although to be truthful, the obligation is one of conscience for the importance of the event it celebrates, the conception of Jesus by Our Lady, who accepted the request of the Father to be mother of his incarnate Son and so conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is the day on which the Incarnation took place, for Mary said her Yes, her Fiat, to the angel Gabriel. The Gospel passage we read today is precisely the account of the Annunciation found in Luke, (Lk 1: 26-38). Although we know it by heart, it’s always a joy and consolation to read it again.
“The angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’ She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Listen! You are to conceive and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David; he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘But how can this come about, since I am a virgin?’ ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ the angel answered ‘and the power of the Most High will cover you with its shadow. And so the child will be holy and will be called Son of God. Know this too: your kinswoman Elizabeth has, in her old age, herself conceived a son, and she whom people called barren is now in her sixth month, for nothing is impossible to God.’ ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord,’ said Mary ‘let what you have said be done to me.’ And the angel left her.”
What can one say? I am often struck by the holiness of some of our parishioners, those who least think of themselves as holy. They are very much like Mary, who was deeply disturbed by the angel Gabriel’s greeting, even before he delivered his message to her, the fact that he calls her highly favoured or full of grace and says that the Lord is with her. It’s humility that these holy people have in common with Mary, they reflect Our Lady’s humility. Another aspect of their lives that they share with Mary is their obedience to the word and will of God. They have said, sometimes without realising it, Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word. These are choices and decisions they have made deep in their hearts and their life is one of discernment and listening to the voice of God, in the Scriptures, in prayer and in the teaching of the Church. But, as I say, so transparent are they, that they are unaware of their holiness in the heart of the Church and in the sight of God. Now we know that in Mary, God took up quite a unique presence as he became incarnate, a human being, Jesus, God made man, in her womb. That minute foetus was from the very moment of conception, true God and true Man, as we say in the Divine Praises at Benediction. Through the mystery of the Incarnation, Jesus has given us the Sacraments, which all assure us of his presence in our souls, minds and bodies. He is truly Emmanuel, God-with-us. Today, let us give thanks for that great mystery of faith and gift of salvation.
