Advent Series - New Encounter - Eight

Two Barns - William Kurelek

Wednesday Week Three
Lectio	In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 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."  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. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. Lk 1:26-38
Meditatio	In our previous post we reflected on Joseph's encounter with the revelation of Jesus coming into the world and the special role he was to have in this wondrous mystery. Now we turn to Mary's experience. "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." ...  "Do not be afraid, Mary" ... " - for you have found favor with God." How might we ever imagine what the experience of a visitation from an angel would be like. For Mary, it was frightening. This is an entirely other world now connecting to this world. This is not a matter of "thinking about" this is "real".  The angel, who's identity is Gabriel, must first bring a calming peace to Mary, and then reveal to her what she could never have otherwise imagined. "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus." Gabriel goes on to explain further. What ever Mary's plans for her life may have been, now another is planning for her. Mary accepts now, this new and unimagable plan for her life, and seeks only a little clarification, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?". In this age, obsessed with the idea that this is my life, "I" decide what "I" will do with it, do you ever think that you also have a God-given vocation - indeed, that as you begin each day, God already has plans for you?  On that "to do list" posted on the fridge door, should we not, at the bottom, leave a space entitled: "But what ever you have planned for me Lord, let thy will be done."
Oratio	O Mother Mary, by your prayer of intercession, help me to have a listening heart. Help me to see that the Lord has a plan for my life also; that my personal faith is but the beginning of a wonderful vocation as a servant, a handmaid of the Lord. May my prayer each day echo your words spoken in reply to the angel; "Behold, I am the servant, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
Contemplatio	"Speak Lord, your servant is listening."

Beginning December 17th. the "O" Antiphons are featured in the liturgies of the final week of Advent. They sing with joyful anticipation the wondrous graces that await us. They are a rich resource for our prayer in these final days of Advent. In an earlier post I explored the O Antiphons in greater detail. Here is the link to that post. /// LINK \\\

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