THE ANNUNCIATION EVENT

The Annunciation event signaled the beginning of the fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation to man, and the establishment of an everlasting kingdom:  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 (Luke 1:31-33). It mirrored the faithfulness of God to His promise to man (Gen. 3:15), despite man’s unfaithfulness to Him.

The cycle of establishment and breaking of a covenant in the Old Testament can be seen as a period of pronouncement of God’s great plan of salvation and a stage of preparation towards its completion in the New.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption. As proof that you are children, God sent the spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father! So you are no longer a slave but a child, and if a child then also an heir, through God (Galatians 4: 4-7).

The beginning of the fulfillment of the promise of salvation took place in a conversation between God’s messenger and a simple woman; in the Annunciation event. God chose a woman to be an instrument to the recreation of the world. Hail favored one! The Lord is with you (Lk 1:28).  And the woman chose God’s will to be hers. Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your Word (Lk 1:38). Mary’s YES to the will of God ushered-in the realization of the will of the Father to save man.

The Annunciation event shows the great possibility of man’s participation and cooperation to the will of God and to the work of salvation. Despite man’s brokenness, through his will, and God’s grace and mercy, he can contribute to the overall realization of the Father’s will here on earth as it is in heaven. This would only be possible if man would be opened to the will of the Father, through the promptings of the Holy Spirit, made manifest through the life and teachings of the Son.

The story of man’s salvation, from Adam to Jesus, continues. And the Annunciation event between God’s messenger and the Blessed Virgin Mary serves as a model on how man can cooperate to the grace and mercy of God, and participate to His salvific work for man.

Mary’s YES to the Father’s will opened the gate of heaven for man for the fulfillment of promised salvation. Man, therefore, can guide his fellow man in the path to salvation by being open to the will of the Father. All these through the help of His grace and mercy to man. 

Be not afraid! Mary the Star of New Evangelization shines brightly along the path to heaven as model and guide.