MONDAY APRIL 8, 2024
MONDAY OF THE SECOND WEEK OF EASTER YEAR B
SOLEMNITY OF THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD
Isaiah 7:10-14;8:10
Hebrew 10:4-10
Luke 1:26-38
I AM THE HANDMAID OF THE LORD
The solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord which properly is celebrated annually on the 25th of March was moved to this day because it fell within the Holy Week, which does not admit or permit solemnities. Therefore the Church moved this solemnity to this day. The importance of this solemnity is therefore to recall to us a great mysteries in our faith commitment.
Celebrating it on the actual day, 25th of March indicates that from that day it will be nine months to the birth of Jesus Christ. So we begin the count down.
Again, it brings us to the awareness that our salvation was designed, prepared and carried out by our Saviour taking our form, the form of weak human body and came into our space and time to redeem us. It reveals the mystery of the incarnation, that God became man and assumed our human nature for our salvation.
It also recalls to us the necessity to respect life at all moment and stages, even before conception and never to disregard, terminate or abort life at any stage because all life matter for God and has a purpose and divine design.
But most importantly, it also reveals the immense interest and desire of our God who comes to take care of our situations, who understands our situation and ready to remedy our situation in a way very different from human thinking and in a style very much simple but equally mysterious for mankind’s understanding.
But let us reflect today on the role of Mary as the handmaid of the Lord. It is more an acceptance of a role assigned by God. Mary made a response of saying “YES” to God’s invitation. God never forces us against our wills but respects our wills as only appeals and comes to us in humility, urging us to assume a role for the good of others. Even our entire life and our existence on earth is also and can be seen as God’s call to play a role, to be a handmaid of God in the redemption of mankind.
Taking a clue from what made Mary a handmaid of God, we observe that Mary received the message of the angel with Joy and great acknowledgment. Recognizing the message and her role, she pondered only slightly how such supernatural role can be accomplished and precisely where the power will come from because being human it was beyond her. So she asked, “how will this be, since I know not man.” And when she was assured that her fears are taking care of and a testimony of even greater power can be found in the case of a person known to her, Elizabeth, she submitted to the call and declared, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word.”
Mary understands what it means to be a handmaid before declaring such. She took to demonstrating it all through her life. She became a voiceless person before any mystery. She kept pondering all in her heart. She became a person of faith and took all her situations as being designed by God with God’s permission and knowledge. She became the project of God and assumed herself such. She accepted all sufferings, all agony that even when she was informed that the child will bring sorrow in her heart, she did not bulge.
She accepted all situations in faith, carried out all that God wanted, and desires. She was even humbler, devoted, concerned about the success of her son’s mission. She followed her son to the fulfillment of his mission by his suffering and death on the cross. She did not stand in the way of the Son Jesus Christ but only enabled Jesus fulfill his mission to God.
After the cruel death of his son, Mary still stayed with the disciples of Jesus, being a mother and a handmaid to God, never giving up but remaining God’s instrument till the last day of her last breath. All through the days of persecution of the apostles of Jesus, Mary joined and organized their prayer sessions and guarded the infant Church.
A handmaid recognizes God’s call, God’s mission and God’s power. And gives in to it without reserve and without hesitation but with total abandonment and surrender. It means accepting all conditions and situations without complaining or arguing. A handmaid is what we are by our calling, our baptism, and our profession of faith.
We are called to be handmaids. Be a handmaid and show it forth.
God our Father, you made us your handmaids when you called us and we responded in accepting baptism. As we renewed our baptismal vows this Easter, renew your spirit in us. Make us devoted, dedicated and selfless handmaids like Mary our mother. Keep us focused, never wavering and never giving up our faith for the things of this world but always true to our calling through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
