“‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’” (Luke 1:34).
I have been reflecting upon the Annunciation. That moment when from all of time that was and all of time that will be, the universe held its breath and waited…
Since the creation of the universe, the Angels have waited for that moment of annunciation. We commemorate it in the Joyful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary, as the First Joyful Mystery, and we do that because it was in that moment of Acceptance, that the fate of the world was sealed. It was in that moment of acceptance that the Blessed Virgin was able to secure for us the opportunity to be saved. If she had exercised her own will and said, “Actually no thanks Angel. I want a big family and I have plans to marry a prince and live a life of pleasure and I am chasing the material satisfaction of this world…” (as she had every right to do)… Then, nothing could have been done. Instead, we would have all been doomed to Hell. I – being a non-Jew – would never have heard of the Messiah and the world would have gone on without forgiveness or charity or plain old Christian kindness…
Instead, the Blessed Virgin said YES…
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit; and her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to send her away. But as he considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit; she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins’...When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him.” (Matthew 1:18–25).
But there was more to it than that. After all she first asked the Angel, “How will this be…”? Her question was humble. She did not try to reason it out for herself. She was not being argumentative. She was asking – genuinely – what she could do to make things work… After all, the Angel has given her direction and now she wanted to know how to do as he asked her…
And it was perhaps that question – “‘How will this be,’ Mary asked the angel, ‘since I am a virgin?’” (Luke 1:34) – that changed the world.
It is perhaps that one question – that willingness to understand how to make a thing work that was beyond her comprehension – that held the key to her ability to obey the Father… And perhaps it was that one question that held the key to change the whole course of the world for every single human soul that had been born or would be born…
And I have been thinking about that today. For there are times when I am surely overwhelmed by my life, and I think to myself… Surely there is a better way to handle this…? And perhaps – just maybe – that is my question…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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