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“Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you...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.” Luke 1: 28, 35
“Hail, favored one!” Wow! Ok, I admit, I know I am not the favored one. I was born with original sin, the propensity to sin, etc. Mary was not a sinner, nor was she born with original sin...she was the Lord’s favored one who was given the responsibility to birth Our Lord! Do you suppose she believed it? I can hardly believe it, to be honest with you. William Biersach writes, “To even suggest that an ordinary woman could handle such a task is to mock the intellect. Reason dictates that she had to be special indeed” (Of Mary There is Never Enough, 23). Extremely special, indeed.
I think we are also indeed special, just in other ways. Let’s challenge ourselves to examine our lives. Let’s look at everyone who surrounds us, the shelter that houses us, the resources abundantly available to each of us, and ask God what we did to deserve His blessings. I bet there isn’t much of an answer other than, “He loves us.” To be honest, that should be enough. Just as with Biersach’s book Of Mary There is Never Enough, I would argue God’s love is never enough for us.
Mary didn’t have a home or many resources, but she felt gratitude.“The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.” Luke 1:49 Let’s open our hearts as Mary did.
Reflect: Let’s focus today on accepting the blessings God provides, solely because He loves us.
Reflect: We don’t deserve the blessings God provides us, but He continues to bless us as He did when He chose Mary as the Mother of the Lord. Do you think that, because we are made in His likeness, and He deserves everything, we are deserving of the graces God gives us?
Act: Offer up your decade of the rosary to God and be thankful today, because you are favored, just like Mary.
