God chose a modest Nazarene girl – the Virgin Mary – as the human mother of his Son. Surprised, Mary asks the angel at this announcement: „How will this happen?“ The angel explains to her that it will become the power of the Holy Spirit, the power of the Most High, „to whom nothing is impossible“. The Virgin Mary knows from Isaiah’s predictions that the Messiah will be a man of pain. And because of him, he will have to leave the Nazareth home and worry about himself and himself. He knows that this promotion will be great but also very painful. But when God asks for it, he expresses his consent without hesitation. I am at the service of the Lord: „ I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.“
How significant are these words of the Virgin Mary? The eternal plan of God’s will was to redeem the human race from sin. For this purpose, God chose the nation of Israel from which the Redeemer was to emerge. He sent prophets to awaken in their faith in the coming of the Messiah, who was to come „ the enlightenment of the Gentiles and the glory of the people of Israel.“ And when the fullness of time came, God sent the angel Gabriel to Mary to proclaim to her the Incarnation of the Redeemer of the world. And the Virgin Mary takes the right attitude: „ I am the servant of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word!“ Her words, spoken in a quiet Nazareth house, foreshadow the fulfillment of God’s will throughout her life! Faithful to her word, she accepts without reservation every obvious manifestation of God’s will and all the circumstances that God allows from the birth of the Savior to the cross on Calvary. The Lord entrusted her with a task and gave her the strength and ability she needed for it. That’s why God expresses reassurance through the mouth of an angel: „Don’t worry, Mary … Lord with you!“
Each of us has our perspectives, our plans, and our dreams. But we also have our annunciations, with which God intervenes in our lives occasionally and wants us to adapt to his purpose. He doesn’t use an angel for that. It is often our conscience, a book, a friend, or an event. Announces and waits. We can decide. We can also refuse. However, we cannot argue that God should choose someone else if he asks us to do so. Although God may find another person to fulfill his purpose, we will not find another God for our salvation. The Virgin Mary is an excellent example of us fulfilling God’s will.
An old legend was recorded in old readings about how God wanted to help a person who lived only by hunting and, therefore, often starved. He, thus, poured wheat from heaven for him. But the devil threw himself on the wheat before man could understand God’s gift. He ground the grain furiously among the stones, and what he did not crush, he buried it in the ground and poured water over it all to make it rot. But the man took moist flour from grain ground by the devil, placed it on a hot stone, and thus baked the first bread. Buried and poured, wheat arose, and man learned to sow and reap it. And so the devil, who wanted to destroy God’s gift, helped God’s purpose. The legend expresses what today’s people lack and what our ancestors could do: to believe in God’s providence. No one destroys or thwarts God’s purposes. Become Your will! That is the strength and courage that brings peace to our lives and every decision we make. Even when the intentions of God’s will are not immediately apparent and understandable to us, however, when we realize that God is always with us and with us, that He is an invisible but practical helper in every task He calls us to, our decision can be simple. „I am the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.“
