heaven kisses earth

It is the Solemnity of the Annunciation.  Again the Beloved looked out from Eternity and saw that we would need an Oasis in the desert, and thus He allowed for one of the most beautiful moments in the history of the universe to be celebrated in the midst of Lent and preparation for Good Friday and the sorrows that we are reminded of. 

We are reminded that it began in Heaven, and that's where it ends. Or, to be precise, where it truly begins.  It began with Heaven coming down to earth.  It began with an Angel and a greeting to a young woman, the most humble and beautiful girl ever created. 

It began with the infinite entering into the finite and sanctifying it forevermore.  It began in the quiet of a womb that became home to Heaven.

It began with a yes to God.  She didn’t need to know what she was getting into.  She knew one thing alone: her love for God and her desire to do whatever He asked of her.  She did not ask to know the future, she did not ask to understand what any of this meant.  She said the “Fiat” that echoed and reverberated throughout her entire life and for all ages.  Mary is sometimes called the “new Eve”.  It was her complete obedience to God that began the undoing of the consequences of Eve’s disobedience.  

We celebrate today our Salvation.  We  celebrate True Beauty and Heaven coming to earth to rescue us from ourselves.  We celebrate life as it was intended to be:  an absolute abandonment and trust to the Will of God.  At every moment.  

We remember that it began with a Joyful Mystery as we prepare to immerse ourselves in the Sorrowful mysteries that begin on Holy Thursday with the Agony of Jesus in the garden.  We remember that it ends in the Gloriously triumphant. That this story of an Angel visiting a virgin girl from an obscure town called Nazareth and announcing the birth of a baby has been retold for centuries only because of the Resurrection of that baby after a brutal death.

We remember that after death there is Resurrection.  We remember that Jesus lived in Mary and because of her yes to God, she became the first of so many to truly receive the Body of Christ into her body.  This was the first Communion of all mankind.  

"In the sixth month, 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, favored one! 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" 

Luke 1:26-38

12 days until Easter Sunday!!!!