Annunciation

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I’m so happy that see all of you and your families here today for this Holy Mass and Eucharistic procession.

This is a perfect day for us to make this public witness of our faith in Jesus Christ. Because today we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, the day when the Word of God was made flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

Many centuries ago, St. Augustine said: the flesh of Jesus is the flesh of Mary.[i] That’s the great mystery of the Annunciation!

Jesus received his human body from the body of Mary, just as each one of us was formed in our own mother’s womb.

And this solemnity reminds us that there is a deep connection between the Incarnation and the Eucharist.

Jesus became flesh in Mary’s womb in order to offer his flesh on the cross for the life of the world. He did this once and for all. Out of love for you and for me, out of love for every person.[ii]

And Jesus is still offering his Body and Blood for us in the bread and wine of the Eucharist ­— and he will keep giving himself for us every day until the end of the age.

In the Eucharist, Jesus gives us the same Body and Blood that was conceived in Mary’s womb and offered on the cross — to be our food, to nourish and strengthen us as we make our journey through this world.

And as I was reflecting on this beautiful mystery of the Annunciation, I was thinking that Our Blessed Mother Mary was the first person to make a “Eucharistic procession.” She was the first person to carry Jesus out into the streets, and to bring him into the world.

We know the story, we remember it when we pray the Rosary, the joyful mystery of the Visitation.[iii] We remember that right after the Annunciation, Mary arose and went in haste to visit her cousin, St. Elizabeth. She carried Jesus in her womb through the hill country of Judea.

And we remember that when Mary arrived, St. Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and the child in her womb jumped for joy.

The Visitation was the first Eucharistic procession! And today, my brothers and sisters, we carry on that tradition.

And we need to look to Mary as our example. One of the saints called Mary “the teacher of unlimited self-giving.” That is a beautiful way to describe how we should live — with generous trust in God’s plan, serving his will with our lives.[iv]

We heard Mary’s beautiful words of faith in the Gospel today: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your Word.”

Mary said “yes” to God’s plan for her life. She made a decision to live for Jesus, and to serve his beautiful plan of salvation.

And dear brothers and sisters, Jesus wants each one of us to say “yes” to him, too. Yes, to his plan for our lives. Yes, to his call for us to follow him, and to carry his light and his love into the world.

As the prophet Isaiah tells us in the first reading today, the Child conceived in the virgin’s womb is “Emmanuel, which means God is with us.”

So we ask God today to give us the grace, the strength and the courage — to help us to bring God into the world, as Mary did.

God wants us to “announce” Jesus in our daily lives, to bring the good news of his love to the people in our lives.

So, today let us say “yes” to Jesus again.

Let us tell him, as we heard in the second reading: “Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will.” Let us make Mary’s words the way for our life: “May it be done to me according to your Word.”

And let us remember, we can be as close to Jesus as Mary was.

When we receive the Eucharist, we have Jesus within us, his Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity — just as Mary did. So let us renew our amazement today at the gift of the Holy Eucharist.

Let us give our lives to Jesus, as he gave his life for us. And as he changes the bread and wine into his Body and Blood, let us allow Jesus to change our hearts and to give us new zeal to “announce” him to people of our times.

May Holy Mary, our Blessed Mother, keep us all in the mantle of her love. May she intercede for us and help us to open our lives to serve her Son’s beautiful plan of salvation, just as she did.

 

[i] Exposition on Psalm 99; Sermon 72

[ii] Heb. 10:10.

[iii] Luke 1:39–56.

[iv] St. Josemaría Escrivá, Furrow, 33.