Presence. This is what God assured our Blessed Mother during the Annunciation through the Angel Gabriel: “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” Reading and meditating on the event of the Annunciation of Jesus’ birth allows us to look into the person of Mary, especially her feelings and emotions: when the angel greeted her, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you;” her reaction was, as the evangelist wrote, “she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.” Then the angel continued saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God…” and then came the good news of the announcement of the birth of Jesus. Then after listening to this news, Our Lady was still confused that is why she asked for a clarification: “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” Then the angel consoled and assured her of God’s presence in the Holy Spirit who will overshadow her. Thus with this assuring presence, she gave her assent: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
The presence of someone who loves us and who we love is assuring and consoling. Our Lord’s active presence in the life of our Blessed Mother was something that gave her the strength and courage to face her mission as the mother of God. This presence of the Lord in her was not a guarantee that she will be spared from sorrow, sadness, and difficulties. But this presence of God in her made her face all these with faith, hope, and love.
“Our Lord’s active presence in the life of our Blessed Mother was something that gave her the strength and courage to face her mission as the mother of God.”
As we celebrate her today as the Lady of the Rosary, let us ask her motherly intercession, she, who was filled with God’s grace and abiding presence all her life. Let us remember that we too are filled with God’s grace and presence especially on the day of our Baptism and Confirmation and that we renew this as we go back to the Lord through Reconciliation and as we partake in the Eucharist. Our Lord Jesus is Emmanuel and He is with us in every moment of our life: in joy and sorrow, in triumphs and failures, in sickness and in health, in life and in death.
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