Will be called holy, the Son of God

WEDNESDAYÌ 25 MARCH (Lk 1,26-38)

Neither on earth nor in the heavens, neither in time nor in eternity, nor in the past, nor in the present and not even in the future, will ever exist a creature of God, either angelic or human, that can somehow be compared to the Virgin Mary. Not only is she full of grace, not only is she the living temple of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, not only has the Father created her most pure, immaculate and without any blemish, not only has he wanted her the most beautiful, holier, higher creature in his creation. But he also chose her to be the Mother of his Word, of his Only Son. No creature might ever be the Mother of God, Mother of the Eternal Word, Mother of the Lord’s Messiah, Mother of the Christ of God. For her the Author of Life came into the world, in her virginal womb the eternal Truth, the divine Light, has become flesh. This is the glory of the Virgin Mary.

She did not make herself the Mother of God. She was made by her Lord. God chose her and she let herself be chosen. God made her and she let herself be made. The fullness of grace and her daily growth from grace to grace and from holiness to holiness have ensured that she did not oppose to God even a force as contrary as a venial sin. This is the difference between us and her. We nullify the will of God over us with the myriad of venial sins and often ruin it in others with mortal sins. That Mary erred in nothing, even inadvertently, is revealed by the question made by her to the angel: “How will this happen, since I know no man?” If Mary were not entirely full of grace and consequently full of wisdom and intelligence, she would have traveled on human paths. While She must always and only remain on divine ways. She will have to conceive by the work of the Holy Spirit. Joseph must not be the father of the Son of the Most High according to the flesh, but only in the spirit, in the heart and in the mind. Jesus has only one Father and one Mother. This is the great miracle that takes place in Mary. Another sign of the fullness of grace in her is her immediate abandonment to the will of God. This is what the Lord asks. This She will do. “Behold the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done for me according to his word”: an immediate response through the strength of the Holy Spirit that moved her heart and governed her mind, directing her will always towards the greatest good. Mary is the most beautiful fruit of grace. But grace in her also produces the most beautiful fruit for the Lord: the incarnation of his Only Son.

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

If the Christian wants to know the mystery written for him by his Lord, in Christ and in the Holy Spirit, he too, like Mary, must grow in grace, growing in the Holy Spirit. If he omits this growth, foolishness will conquer him and he will live with God earthly and never divine relationships. He will do things from his will, never from the will of the Father. Today the great confusion that reigns in the minds and hearts of the disciples of Jesus is the fruit of their abandonment to sin and to vice. This abandonment to the logic of the flesh and not instead to the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, is leading to the abandonment also of the written truth, considered a word to which we owe no obedience. Either we grow in grace and wisdom, or we will be an extinguished fire in the history of humanity.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints rekindle the fire of the grace and Holy Spirit in us.