Commentary on the Gospel of
The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.’ This is indeed a mysterious message and no wonder Mary herself was deeply troubled at it. Mary summarised all her confusion and fear by saying ‘I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.’ It was a perfect surrender and the noblest act of faith.
The quality of her surrender was so great that she never withdrew her consent even at the darkest consequence of her ‘yes’. She was unaware how far her ‘yes’ would completely change her hopes and plans, and the course of life itself. Yet she had the humility to listen to the message, the faith to believe that it was God’s word, and the courage to obey it. She kept up her surrender at the annunciation up to the foot of the Cross without a trail of regret or sorrow. Annunciation thus presents to us a perfect model of God-man relationship. “In Jesus, God has placed, in the midst of barren, despairing mankind, a new beginning which is not a product of human history but a gift from above” (Pope Benedict XVI).
All that our heart cries out for became Flesh in Mary’s womb. When we imitate the attitude of Mary, the Word of God geminates in our souls too. Our Christian faith is this never-ending event of encounter with God made present in the maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This mystery of God becoming man is not an event that took place more than a thousand years ago. It continues today. Here and now, God asks us to embody him in our world.
