The Feast of the Annunciation

Sometimes I say it would be easier to write a blog if someone gave me a topic. Given today’s feast I feel a topic has been given to me, yet I have been in a dither. “Hail full of grace, the Lord is with Thee,” the angel Gabriel said to Mary. Such sacred words for reflection and spoken by an angel at that! Yet how often I have uttered them routinely over the years! Joan Chittister, quoting the ancient rabbis reminds us “The first time a thing occurs in nature (in life) it is called a miracle. Later it becomes natural and no attention is paid to it.” Lord, deliver us from allowing this to happen with the sacred events we ponder in Scripture and in our prayer life.

It is not likely in our personal experience that God speaks to us through an angel, but how else would Mary or anyone else understand or believe such news? What a wonder it is, however, that God does speaks to us. Do we not experience God communing with us through another person, a dream, or an event?  May we be filled with gratitude that all believers are filled with God’s grace even on a daily basis. Is not the angel’s message to Mary what may draw us to ask God’s grace and guidance throughout the day?

The Annunciation   Fra  Angelico 1343

“The Lord is with Thee.” The Lord is also with each of us! Pondering this grace, we may be sure that our every moment is blessed. God is with us in the Eucharist, in each person we encounter, in the air we breathe, in the environment we live. God, please grant us the grace to experience this in all we see and in all we touch, and in all of existence.

“Blessed art thou among women.” So true of Mary in her unique blessedness as the Mother of God. We, too, are blessed, so very blessed. Thank you God for saving us from the experience of so many women suffering from human trafficking, living in poverty, being persecuted for their belief in you, living in a refugee camp, or being denied refuge in the United States. How can we name all our blessings? May we remember to offer thanks to You every day.

“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”

Sr. Victoria Eisenman, OSB