“Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much. You can never love her more than Jesus did.”

"We never give more honor to Jesus than when we honor his Mother, and we honor her simply and solely to honor him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son."--Saint Louis Marie de Montfort

The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
Gospel text (Lk 1,26-38):
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.

Imagine you are young and in love and just living your life, when suddenly an angel appears to you with the message that you are going to become pregnant with the Savior of the world. Would you agree to do this?

Today we remember the astonishing fact that God became a baby — a tiny human being. The almighty, infinite God became human flesh smaller than your fingernail. Why would He do such a thing? The only response we can make to the mystery of the Incarnation is: "God is Love" (1 Jn 4:16). He does the unimaginable because He is Love. He became a man because He is Love. He let Himself be crucified and put to death because He is Love. He gives us His body and blood in Holy Communion because He is Love.

What exactly is God calling us to do? What does it mean for us to surrender ourselves to God’s will? Do we understand that responding as did Mary with “yes” is a commitment to a life-long journey?

We must not be close-minded, and instead should be open to the call of God. While it can be easy to try and plan our lives, that is not how it is supposed to be done. We are supposed to live our lives according to God’s path and be ready to change if God throws a curve ball in our way.

Robert Frost wrote a poem entitled The Road Not Taken. It is a very popular poem, and describes how hard it can be to make choices. But when you make a hard choice that may go against the norm it can really make a big difference.

What's your decision? "Let it be done" to you according to God's word (Lk 1:38).