BEHOLD, I AM A SERVANT OF THE LORD!

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Annunciation of the Lord (Solemnity)

By Lorenz S. Centino, Jr.

Luke 1: 26 - 38

26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!" 29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34 And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" 35 And the angel said to her, "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. 36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible." 38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

PERSONAL REFLECTIONS:

A BLESSED FRIDAY TO ALL!!!

Most of the times, we do something for a REASON or act for a particular PURPOSE in mind. It is this reason or purpose that will define the MEANING or MEANINGLESSNESS of what we have done. However, at times we also do things AIMLESSLY, doing things without any purpose or without any specific aspiration to attain in doing so. Many complained that they get bored at their work, or felt despondent and downhearted in a relationship, because everything in it is seen and experienced as routine and dull. It so happen that way because everything in it is seen to be meaningless. This sense of meaninglessness is the result of the lost of interest in the work and in the relationship. When INTEREST is GONE, MEANING will also soon be GONE. Therefore, MEANING resides not so much on the kind of work we do or on the kind of relationship we are in. The work could be exciting to others, but is insipid or dry to us. The person to whom we are in a relationship with could be very attractive, successful or adored by many, but to us the person could be a burden and a “hell” to be with. MEANING resides in the HEART! If the heart is no longer interested in the work or in the relationship, anything in it is lackluster, dry, and LIFELESS. And so the bible reminds us as to WHERE our HEART IS, THERE is our TREASURE! What the HEART TREASURES will always be MEANINGFUL.

In the Gospel today Mary is overwhelmed and puzzled by the message of the angel that she is FULL of GRACE. For her, she is just an ordinary and poor young girl belonging not to any royal family of Israel that is highly blessed with wealth and power. All the more Mary is deeply troubled when she was told that she will get pregnant. The more it becomes hard for Mary to take when she was told that she will not just be conceiving an ordinary human being. She will be carrying in her womb the SON of GOD! To any woman, this is a very overwhelming joke! Everything escapes any sense and meaning.

In a related version of the Gospel today that focuses on Joseph, in the context of Mary’s pregnancy, Joseph have come to the realization that it was not meaningful anymore to continue with his relationship with Mary since Mary is pregnant. It did not make any sense for Joseph to continue his relationship with Mary since he had nothing to do with her pregnancy. For him, it could be hard living with someone who cheated him. Moreover, in a very conservative society, and highly moralistic and scandal-sensetive Jewish community, he planned to divorce Mary discreetly to spare Mary from embarrassment. Joseph was at a loss for meaning in his relationship with Mary.

Yet, what seem to be incomprehensible and senseless to Mary and Joseph did not deter them from doing something that went beyond their sense for meaning. They both embraced what scared them, what perplexed them, what could have made them deeply troubled. Joseph took Mary as her wife. And Mary gave her “YES” to the message of the angel. What could have made them decide to embark on something they do not fully grasped and fully understand? Mary’s answer to the angel reveals it all, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word."

This answer of Mary is coming from a DEEP INTEREST in her HEART in DOING something for the Lord. She made her own contribution in the history of salvation by her interest in doing her own PART in it. She is willing because she understood very well that she is a HANDMAID of the Lord. She understood well her standing before the Lord that the Lord is the MASTER and she is made to accomplish His bidding. Mary’s question as to HOW can she become pregnant since she doesn’t have a husband is not so much about DOUBT or INDIFFERENCE on her part. Her question was coming from a deep sense of AWE and WONDER to the message of God. She felt so privileged to be chosen to be the mother of the Savior, the Son of God.

As we celebrate today the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, may the example of Mary enable us to see our place before God. We are God’s SERVANTS! Mary is challenging us to keep the ZEAL in our hearts to see that anything that we do is for the glory of God. If such zeal will continue burning, everything that we are doing will be interesting, motivating, inspiring, and purpose-driven. Everything we do, even how monotonous and routinely simple they are, will always make sense to us because we put our HEART into what we are doing. Where we put our HEART into, there will be our TREASURE! And where our treasure is, there we find MEANING! May our hearts always find the interest to say "I am the SERVANT of the Lord, may I do everything for His GLORY!"