But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.”
Today’s Gospel reading from Luke follows yesterday’s reading and tells very similar stories. While Zechariah questioned Gabriel and is made speechless until John’s birth, Mary says, “May it be done to me according to your word.” It is not as if Zechariah was punished for what Gabriel called his lack of belief in the message sent from God; it seems instead that God quieted Zechariah for a time and immersed him in the school of interior life to prepare for the birth of John. Mary simply gave her consent, her fiat, saying, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.” How often in my life, even now during Advent, do I stay behind bars that keep me inside?
When you come to free me, Lord, I cling to bars that confine me as a self-proclaimed master of my own destiny. How do I learn to let go of my own personal glory? Let me learn to take to heart the words of the psalmist: “Let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.” Help me understand, Lord, that what seems up is down and what is down, up. As Jesus says, “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” Mary said yes; let me learn to do the same.
For the times when I don’t realize I’m saying no to you, Lord, or for the times when I’m afraid to say yes, stay with me. For the times when it’s hard to let you enter, grant me the grace to find a place for you. Power of the Most High, overshadow me today.
From the O Antiphon for today: O Key of David, opening the gates of God’s eternal Kingdom: come and free the prisoners of darkness!
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
