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Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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A few years ago, on the cover page of National Geographic there was a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary with the title, “The Most Powerful Woman in the World.”
More than one billion Catholics refer to her as their spiritual mother, a command first given by Jesus to John at the Cross: “Behold, your mother.”
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Two factors that have inspired Marian devotion are her relatability and her many apparitions throughout the centuries.
She is relatable because, like many Christians, Mary was poor. She spent time as a refugee. She accepted God’s plan for her life while she was still a teenager, modeling a path for other young people to follow. And from the annunciation to the cross, she walked the path of faith paved in surrender.
Mary is powerful because she is relatable; she is one of us.
Secondly, she pulls back the veil between heaven and earth. The first reported Marian apparition took place in the year 40 AD, shortly after her assumption.
There have been an estimated 2,000 Marian apparitions since, almost 20 of which have been officially approved by the Vatican, reminding us of Mary’s intimate connection with humanity, even from the highest realms of heaven.
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Today we celebrate one of those apparitions, Our Lady of the Rosary.
In the 13th century, the Blessed Mother appeared to Saint Dominic and assured him that, among other things, if he spread devotion to the rosary, then his religious order would flourish.
800 years later, there are more than 5,000 Dominican nuns and priests ministering around the world – with more than 70 Dominicans having been canonized as Saints! A reminder that Mary is true to her word.
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May she, the most powerful woman in the world, intercede for us today as we pray:
Hail Mary…
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Image credits: (1) Beliefnet.com (2) National Geographic (3) Saintraphaelchurch.org