24/06/2024
“CONCEIVE IN YOUR WOMB …, JESUS!”
"Embracing God’s Kingdom in the Everyday!"
The Gospel according to John, Chapter 3, verse 16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (Jn. 3:16 - NRSVCE)
This LOVE OF GOD ushers to us the JESUS-EVENT – the introduction and growth in the Kingdom of God. The Holy Bible narrated to us a story of the Blessed Virgin Mary when she was visited by Archangel Gabriel, wherein she was surrounded by mystery and messages of peace, hope, joy and love.
In the first chapter of St. Luke’s Gospel verses 26-31 the story of the annunciation, or the visitation by an angel unfolded. There was an angel named Gabriel, sent by God to a Galilean city named Nazareth, to a betrothed-virgin named Mary. She was greeted by the angel as, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” When she heard the greeting, the angel sensed the great fear in her. And so, the angel assured her, “Do not be afraid, Mary...,” and further clarified himself saying, “You have found favor with God. You will conceive in your womb and bear a son. You shall call his name JESUS.”
Imagine, you, a nobody and an ordinary person, in the situation of the betrothed-virgin; visited by this heavenly guest. How would you react? How would you handle such surprise of all surprises in your life? What do we make of this story? Let me think aloud.
Beautiful soul, God is always in the look out; looking for something in us. Something that He can find favorable, something gracious. Something raw, something generously open and welcoming, where He can fashion a Jesus deep within.
Whoa! Confusing? Scary?
Well, remember, that’s the reaction too, of the BVM. And yet, towards the end of the convo with Archangel Gabriel, even though without complete understanding, she uttered that famous biblical response, “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you have said.”
A fiat, a Yes!
We are in the middle of the Year of Prayer (2024), in preparation for Jubilee Year 2025. God is searching for hearts. God is waiting for our generous response. God is anticipating with joy, that in our heart of hearts the birthing anew, and the growth of JESUS-EVENT, may happen.
Do we have something for God to fashion?
In our womb-heart, amidst our fulfilling-joyful life, troubled family life, or, in our sick-bed; in our life as student, as parents, as children, as consecrated person, as Christian devotedly witnessing to the growth of the Kingdom of God.
“Do not be afraid,” the Archangel Gabriel says to the Blessed Virgin Mary, assuring us also that, we have found favor with God. The Father is pleased to us because the life of His only Begotten Son, is incorporated to our life, by virtue of the sacrament of baptism through the Holy Spirit. It is just a matter for us, to make space in our hearts and lives, a PERSEVERING “YESes,” even without completely understanding God’s ways and will.
As we renew our FIAT to God’s will of building a Kingdom of justice, peace and love, may our devotion to Christ in the Eucharist lead us to love more and more, in all circumstances, in season and out of season. Remembering always that serving God in our sisters and brothers, especially the last, the least and the lost, is a sign of Eucharistic love.
“I wish all of you that the light of the Child Jesus, now on the horizon, may invade your life with His blessing,” (Message December 11, 2019). May these words of Pope Francis reverberate in your loving hearts. FIAT! (-Fr. Rey, SSS)
(Image from the internet, my gratitude).