Monday of the Fourth Week of Advent (December 20)
(Isaiah 7:10-14; Luke
1:26-38)
We have all heard of contemporary
“headhunters.” These people are
personnel specialists who seek the right person for an important job. They may want someone with a Ph.D. in
chemistry and skills as a scuba diver to do critical marine scientific research. The angel Gabriel plays the role of a
headhunter in today’s gospel.
Gabriel is looking for
the right person to be the mother of the Messiah. He goes to Mary who is “full of grace.” She has been uniquely gifted to do God’s
will. Further, she has shown herself cooperative
with that grace. As the angel says, she
has “found favor with God.” She again shows
worthiness to be mother of Jesus when she responds to Gabriel. She tells him unequivocally,
“May it be
done to me according to your word.” She will always do God’s will, not her own.
We can be like
Mary. We have been given the necessary
grace at Baptism. We have also
cooperated with that grace by helping a neighbor and coming to church. It’s difficult in today’s narcissistic world
to allow God’s will to take precedence over our own. But we can do it with God’s assistance.
