Annunciation

Psalm 85:
Faithfulness shall spring from the earth
and justice look down from heaven.

The Lord will make us prosper
and our earth shall yield its fruit.
Justice shall march before him
and peace shall follow his steps.

Isaiah:
I am the Lord, I make well-being and create woe; let justice descend like gentle rain, let the earth open and salvation bud forth; let justice also spring up!

Today the church celebrates the start of the story of God becoming man. An angel named Gabriel shows up and tells Mary she is going to be pregnant by God and will deliver His son. A pretty amazing occurence, beyond human understanding. What would you have said? Perhaps something like "I am special. My uterus is especially special. No extraterrestrial beings allowed! How could I explain it to my fiance? It will ruin my life!".

Instead, Mary's answer is "I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." This answer is called her "fiat" by those who study such things. It is a profound statement, and marks the true birth of the holy catholic church. The very first human to accept Christ. A real human who submits herself to God and opens the door to salvation for all mankind. What a gal! What an attitude! More than a heroine. Do catholics pray to her? Technically, no. We believe that Jesus did conquer death when he rose from the grave. We believe this remarkable woman joined him in heaven. We ask her to pray for us to God because we realize that we still have sin within us and are unworthy to expect God to hear us alone. I often ask for people I think are holy to pray for me. Even though spiritual existence after death is beyond human understanding we know that it did happen because of the long string of people that have witnessed it and passed it down through the generations. I believe my father's spirit lives beyond the death of his body, and I ask him to pray for me, too.