The annunciation of the angel Gabriel to Mary is the event in the life of Mary that many people are familiar with. The exchange of words between Mary and the angel is contained in an oft-proclaimed prayer repeated in all churches at the strike of dawn and dusk. It contains the theme: God has a plan, do not be arfaid, salvation is at hand.
Mary too was afraid, he ascertained us. The message of the angel thus exactly she needed.In the midst of Mary's perturbation, the angel bid her not to be afraid. But the situation that Mary found herself in was truly fear-inspiring. To be with child at 15 was just too frightening to even think about. To suffer the fate of being discovered was just too horrible. So what then was that fear that the angel wanted her to dismiss? It was the fear of participating in God's plan.
We found ourselves in a similar situation. And I guess there were likewise valid reasons for us to harbor dread and fright. But like Mary, there was a kind of fear that we needed to remove from our hearts. In the midst of those incomprehensible things that transpired in our lives then, we needed to allow God to step in and perform His plan, no matter how fearful it seemed to be.
It is frightening to experience God's intervention in our lives. More so to be disturbed by God as we go on with our own plans. For when God meddles with our affairs it would surely require a different kind of behavior from us.And that is even scarier. And so the challenge was thrown at us: will we become the kind of persons that God wants these fearful situations to make of us? Will we become better persons- compassionate, forgiving, loving and accepting?
Mary submissions to God's will is truly worth imitating. Human as she was, she manifested her trust and surrender despite herself. And because of this, salvation came to all of us. This should inspire us to examine how we should handle our own personal affairs. There would be times in our lives that God would simply disrupt our personal ventures. We need not fear. For when we allow Him to enter our life's pursuits, salvation will truly be ours.
Mary too was afraid, he ascertained us. The message of the angel thus exactly she needed.In the midst of Mary's perturbation, the angel bid her not to be afraid. But the situation that Mary found herself in was truly fear-inspiring. To be with child at 15 was just too frightening to even think about. To suffer the fate of being discovered was just too horrible. So what then was that fear that the angel wanted her to dismiss? It was the fear of participating in God's plan.
We found ourselves in a similar situation. And I guess there were likewise valid reasons for us to harbor dread and fright. But like Mary, there was a kind of fear that we needed to remove from our hearts. In the midst of those incomprehensible things that transpired in our lives then, we needed to allow God to step in and perform His plan, no matter how fearful it seemed to be.
It is frightening to experience God's intervention in our lives. More so to be disturbed by God as we go on with our own plans. For when God meddles with our affairs it would surely require a different kind of behavior from us.And that is even scarier. And so the challenge was thrown at us: will we become the kind of persons that God wants these fearful situations to make of us? Will we become better persons- compassionate, forgiving, loving and accepting?
Mary submissions to God's will is truly worth imitating. Human as she was, she manifested her trust and surrender despite herself. And because of this, salvation came to all of us. This should inspire us to examine how we should handle our own personal affairs. There would be times in our lives that God would simply disrupt our personal ventures. We need not fear. For when we allow Him to enter our life's pursuits, salvation will truly be ours.
