Reflections for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception (celebrated on the 8th December) by Saint Josemaría Escrivá De Balaguer (1902-1975) On her feast, sing to the Immaculate Virgin, reminding her: Hail Mary, daughter of God the Father! Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son! Hail Mary, Spouse of God the Holy Spirit! Greater than you, none but only God! In todays reading we find: When the completion of the time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born a subject of the Law, to redeem the subjects of the Law, so that we could receive adoption as sons. (Galatians 4, 4-5) Dear friend, let us together contemplate the scene of the Annunciation, as described in todays Gospel. The Lady of the sweet name, Mary, our beloved Mother, is withdrawn in prayer. You, in that house, are whatever you want to be: a friend, a servant, an onlooker, a neighbour. I, at this moment, do not dare to be anything. I hide behind you, full of awe. The Archangel Gabriel delivers his message from God. “How shall this be done since I know not man?” she humbly asks. Our Mothers voice brings to my memory, by contrast, all the impurities of men, mine too! And then how I hate the low, mean things of the earth. What resolutions! Our Lady listens attentively to what God wants, ponders what she does not fully understand and asks about what she does not know. Then she gives herself completely to doing Gods will “Be it done unto me according to Thy word”, she replies. By the enchantment of this virginal phrase, the Word was made flesh in her most blessed womb. The Blessed Virgin Mary is a perfect model of correspondence to grace and example how to divinize our everyday existence. The Virgin did not limit herself to pronounce to the Archangel Gabriel her correspondence to God’s will, but in everyday of her life she fulfilled that firm and irrevocable decision. So should we. When God’s love gets through to us and we come to know what He desires from us, we have to commit ourselves to be faithful and loyal to His Divine Will; His Will becomes our will too. Our beloved Mother shows us that obedience to God is not servile, does not bypass our conscience. We should be inwardly moved to discover the freedom of the children of God. If we take advantage of those moments when we contemplate the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary, trying to imagine how she would conduct herself in our circumstances, we will make steady progress in obtaining personal holiness. And in the end we will resemble her, as children come to look like their mother. Just like our mother, the Lord calls us, in the depths of our soul, by our name, by the name we are fondly called at home, by our nickname. Like the Blessed Virgin, we just have to say “Yes” to His call, and answer Him: “Lord, here I am, for You have called me, and this time I am very determined not to let time flow by like water over the pebbly bed of a stream, leaving no trace behind.” And with this reply to God’s call comes a strong constant joy, which disappears only when you abandon Him and decide not to abide any longer to His Divine Will. We have to love God so as to love His Will, and desire to respond to His calls. They come to us through the ordinary duties in our lives: duties of state, profession, work, family, colleagues, friends, social life, our own and other people’s difficulties, eagerness to do what is right, just and pleasing to God.
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 14:17:05 +0000
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