he Annunciation of Our Most Holy Lady, the Mother of God and Ever-Virgin Mary; Passing into Eternal Life (1944) of Blessed Omelian (Emil) Kovch, Priest of Peremyshliany and Martyr of Majdanek
Great Fast Day 34. Holy Day of Obligation.
Hebrews 2:11-18; Luke 1:24-38.
Read Hebrews 2:11-18
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Brothers and sisters, we live in an age of suspicion. If we look at the history of ideas and philosophy, we will see that the early philosophers argued passionately over what was true, or even how we come to know something was true. In our modern times we have abandoned the search for truth, either thinking the word doesn’t mean anything or if it is out there it is impossible to know. Some have dubbed our era one of post-truth, an era only interested in utility.
Mary, in her visit from the Angel Gabriel seeks clarification as she does not understand the strange words spoken to her. Her phrase “How shall this be?” is not a denial of what God can, and is, doing, but a request for further information. Mary’s response to the Lord is one of complete openness and docility to His Will: “let it be done to me according to Your Word.”
Are we, brothers and sisters influenced by a world of knee-jerk suspicion? How receptive are we to the possibility that God, as the Maker and Fashioner of existence, can produce something new and unexpected? Let us celebrate Mary’s “yes” by considering our own docility to the Lord’s will in our lives.