March 25: Annunciation (Lk
FULL OF GRACE
Our
devotion to the Virgin Mary is well founded when we understand her place in
God's plans. Our devotion is founded on solid facts when we appreciate Mary's
relation to Jesus and his Church.
Her
privileges may tend to dazzle us and we can fail to model our life on hers if
we don't understand her properly. Mary was certainly privileged because God had
special plans for her. But she lived the life of faith in the same way as we
are all required to live it. We can learn, from studying her, what is expected
of us, because Mary is one Christian among all other Christians.
In
today's gospel, we read that the angel said to Mary, "Hail, full of
grace." We feel at once that we aren't full of grace and we immediately
place Mary on a pedestal. But
"grace" means God's sharing his own life with us. This was his only
purpose in creating the world.
In
that sense, not only Mary but also every other Christian receives a fullness of
grace. God wants to share his life fully with each of us according to the
capacity given to each. Mary was endowed with the greatest possible capacity
for sharing God's life. God alone knows what capacity he has given to us, but
gradually we come to understand what is required of us.
It
is certain that God has called each of us to a particular place in his plans.
It could be the dignity of a baptised baby, or of a confirmed youth, or of a
single person, or of a spouse, or of a priest or religious. It is certain that
he reveals his plans in us as we go along, provided we are faithful to him for
the moment.
Mary's
role was to be the mother of Jesus Christ and mother of his Church. So her
capacity to share in God's life was in proportion to God's plan for her. Since
God has chosen each of us from all eternity to play some part in his plan, he
will make it possible for us to play that part as fully as God wills.
Mary
reached her fullness of grace in the same way as we do. Recall the occasion
when the woman in the crowd said, "Blessed is the womb that bore
you". Jesus replied, "Rather, blessed are they who hear the word of
God and keep it."
He
didn't deny that the woman chosen to be his mother was singularly blessed, but
he emphasised that she fulfilled her high dignity simply through faith. Mary
heard the word of God and she kept it.
We
don't give honour to God or to Mary by making her out to be perfect by
necessity, as though it was all God's doing and she had no part in it. This is
not true. Mary could have failed in her commitment to God's will since she had
free will. Every advance towards her
perfection was a victory of her faith: hearing God's word and keeping it.
She
is no different from us in this. Mary is our model of genuine faith: Listen to
God’s word and keep it.