Discernment: From the Perspective of the Annunciation

Discerning God’s Plan: Today we celebrate the feast of the Annunciation, the angel announces to Mary that she has been chosen by God to be the mother of the Son of God.  Mary, hearing of God’s plan, says:  “Behold the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your  word.”  She surrenders her will to the will of God at the risk of losing her own life. “Yes” to God’s will involves a letting go of my will, a dying to my will, an acceptance of the pain involved in dying. It involves taking risks, not knowing the consequences.   When “an angel of the Lord” announces God’s plan for you, what is your response? Are you willing, as Mary was, to have it done to you according to God’s word, or, like Adam and Eve, do we follow our own will and set God’s aside?  “Not now, Lord. I can’t leave what I am doing? I have no idea where my “yes” to your call will take me? Will I ever see home again? Will I be able to visit my friends? Will I be able to have my own cell phone? What will happen to the home I own? The car I own?

The leap of faith is a difficult leap! With your hand in the hand of the Lord, however, it is not too wide from “here” to “there.”  You will make it because God is in charge, God leads, God shows the way, God lights the dark, God strengthens the weak!