Eucharistic Readings for The Annunciation
Isaiah 7:10 to 14; Canticle 15: Hebrews 10:4 to 10: Luke 1:26 to 38:
“Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.” (Luke 1:38)
I ponder often about Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus. She was young, of lower socio-economic status, and to this point, not yet married but now pregnant. Earlier in this reading of Luke, in the NRSV translation of the Bible, we have Mary’s feelings about the proposition God is making with her through the angel Gabriel, “But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be; (Luke 1:29). Luke also has Mary ponder about the shepherd’s words concerning the Baby Jesus when they visited her and Joseph in a stable in Bethlehem; (Luke 2:19). It is from Mary’s “ponderings” that I named this blog.
God has come to us as a Baby human, vulnerable and needing love and tender care. Regardless of what anyone might say about Mary’s credentials, she was hand-picked by God Almighty. Enough said on that.
According to the Gospels, Jesus shared a home with his Mother Mary all of his earthly life, at least until the start of his traveling ministry. And as we know Jesus has a habit of multiplying food and even changing water into wine. This Mother of lower socio-economic status would not have wanted for food or even refreshment. Thank You Lord Jesus.
Perhaps the saddest point in Mary’s earthly life was seeing her Son nailed to a cross; so sad. Sad too are the Ukrainian mothers witnessing their sons killed by Russian troops in Ukraine. As we remember Saint Mary today, I pray we also hold today’s Ukrainian mothers in our prayers. If God didn’t think much of human mothers God would not have come to us through one. Birth too is creation. Let us also ponder about what God must have seen in the nature of Mary and pray for all mothers, especially Ukrainian mothers during our Sabbath time.
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done” (Genesis 2:1 and 2). So, for this evening and tomorrow day my friends, Shabbat Shalom.
What is Shabbat? Intro to the Jewish Sabbath – YouTube
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
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