The Annunciaton

Last week was the Feast of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Bible verses that chiefly talk about this just so happen to include the one that this site is named after.

"Mary said, 'Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."

I love this verse, it is my favorite in the whole Bible.

It helps to look at the context of it. The Archangel Gabriel had just told Mary that she was pregnant with the Son of God, even though she was still a virgin. She was almost certainly still a teenager. She was not married, and she would had to have thought that Joseph (to whom she was betrothed) would no longer be with her, and her reputation would be ruined. Furthermore, it is (I imagine) hard enough having to raise a normal child! Now being in the charge of the development of Jesus, that is a tough task. Talk about being called to a higher standard.

For all of these reasons, it would have been easy to see why Mary might have gotten scared, or nervous, or told Gabriel that this was a responsibility that she did not want to shoulder.

Instead, she does the opposite. In short, she tells Gabriel, "I am here only to do God's work. Let His will be done, I will do what He wants." Despite the difficulties surrounding this, she does not need time to think, she trusts that if it is God's will, it is what she wants also.

I strive to always have that same attitude, to follow in the example of Mary, to say to God, "Let it be done to me according to your word."