"And the Word Became Flesh and Dwelt Among Us."

The Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci

I love this feast of Our Lady, the Annunciation, for a very personal reason. My birthday is tomorrow and my mom and dad named me after the Blessed Mother. How privileged I am to have as my special patron this most wonderful of all the saints. And I have to agree with Fr. Mark Pilon that it is the greatest of all the feast days. Perhaps one day it will be recognized as a hold day of obligation. How appropriate that would be when the great day comes when Mary is named Co-redemptrix!


The Feast of the Annunciation also makes me think of John's Gospel. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.In him was life,and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it....And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us."

How the mind whirls at the thought of the Creator of the Universe humbling Himself by taking on the nature of His own creation. The Word, through whom every single thing in the universe came into being, became one of us.

It would be like me looking at the worm my grandson showed me today and deciding (if I could) to become a worm, except that I'm even less than a worm in the presence of my God.

And yet...and yet...HE LOVES ME! And He would have died for me even if there were no one else on the planet. Wow! What a thought. And it is the same for every one of us -- the holiest of the saints and the worst of the sinners. He wants each of us to respond to His love so we can be saved.

Oh what fools we are if we fail to look at Our God on the crucifix and refuse to rush into His outstretched arms. Contemplate the crucifix and join me in saying the prayer before a crucifix:

Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus

while before Your face I humbly kneel and,

with burning soul,

pray and beseech You

to fix deep in my heart lively sentiments

of faith, hope, and charity;

true contrition for my sins,

and a firm purpose of amendment.

While I contemplate,

with great love and tender pity,

Your five most precious wounds,

pondering over them within me

and calling to mind the words which David,

Your prophet, said to You, my Jesus:

"They have pierced My hands and My feet,

they have numbered all My bones."

Amen.