What about me, Mary? Will I be able to hear God’s call in the midst of my life? Will God utter the same words of comfort delivered through another that the angel offered you? Will I be able to discern God’s voice from all the others offering me invitations? Will I be able to say “yes” to God’s invitation when it appears in the middle of my ordinary life?
Somehow your heart was tuned to the voice of God. Somehow the Holy Spirit enabled you to hear and say “yes” to what God put before you. While I do not understand it all, I do know that your ability to hear God through the angel Gabriel helps me know that I will be able to hear God speaking to me in the middle of my life. Your ability to say “yes” to something that frightened you at first helps me, too, say “yes” to the invitations God puts in my life that frighten me. You show me the way, Mary, to hear God’s voice, to overcome my fears, and to do God’s will.
In this season of Advent, when we celebrate your ability to hear God’s invitation and respond positively, I ask that you pray for us. Pray that we, too, may have hearts tuned to God’s voice. Pray that we might be comforted the way the angel Gabriel comforted you. Pray that we, too, can respond to God’s invitations in our lives so that we might continue to bring light into the world the way you did by offering us the greatest light, Jesus. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.
Image: James Tissot, “The Annunciation,” opaque watercolor over graphite on gray wove paper.