Tomorrow is the Annunciation of the Lord!!
March 24, 2023
Dear Family of Mary!
Tomorrow is a very special feast day! The Annunciation of the Lord! This miraculous event, filled with meaning and more so with salvation, is the pivot of all history! Since Creation there has been nothing more powerful and merciful than the Annunciation! God created our universe and our tiny little planet and filled that universe and that planet with amazing stuff. Topped with the gift of life, and especially the gift of human life, this creation was a huge blast of mercy and love!
But we fell, trusting more the words of Satan than the Word of God. And since then we have had a hard road back to our God. But on the feast tomorrow we will see the mighty and endless mercy of God display itself in a very private and hidden conversation between a holy maiden and an archangel. This conversation will result in an unheard of act of mercy, God will become man!!!
Here is that conversation, our Gospel for tomorrow. It is worth reading and praying over many times!
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 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.
The Gospel of the Lord.
On this greatest of feasts, we will stand in silence and wonder, in gratitude and hope, because our sorry plight was changed and the gulf between God and Man was mended!!
Today I was able to go to the Risen Christ Statue and pray for all of you shipmates. The tears of love that flow from the knees of Jesus were abundant!! I felt such love from Jesus and Mary!! I do feel that all of you shipmates are being carried in our hearts on this pilgrimage. And the love I am receiving from the Lord and Our Lady is for all of you!!!
God bless you all!
Cathy Nolan
Mary TV
P.S. I will take March 25 and 26 off – and send the next reflection on Monday, March 27, 2023. Time for prayer and silence I hope.
PPS. Denis and I went to the Risen Christ Statue yesterday (March 23) and prayed for all of you. The tears that fall from the knees of Jesus were flowing! It was very moving. Jesus loves you all so very much! We must never doubt how much Jesus and Mary love us!!
