The Solemnity of Mary

When the angel Gabriel greeted Mary at the mystery of the Annunciation, he used those familiar words: Hail, full of grace. Hail is an ordinary greeting in Greek, but it also can be translated as rejoice or be joyful. The next part of his greeting or message is Full of grace. The Lord is with you. The other translation for full of grace is highly favored. What joy could be greater than having the Lord with you? What grace or favor could be higher than having the Lord with you? He is Emmanuel, the promised of ages. We have Him with us and our joy is full. We have Him with us today in the sacrament and in the word. Today we celebrate the mystery of His Mother. All the other miracles of salvation history are linked to this miracle. Without the birth of Jesus in the flesh, all flesh would not have been redeemed in the mystery of His death and resurrection. The grace that Mary has been given is the first and greatest grace of God's plan of salvation. The Lord is with you Mary in a way that no one else can know, but today we can imitate you, Mary, and ponder all these mysteries in our hearts as you pondered the mysteries of God's favor to you. Mary has changed Eve's curse into a blessing. She is the new daughter of Zion. Through Mary all her ancestor and forbears have found a blessing. Mary without seed has born as her fruit the one who bestows blessing on the world and redeems it from the curse that made it sprout thorns. Mary is blessed among women, because, although a creature by nature, she became, in reality, God's mother, the Theotokos. Enclosed within her womb is God himself. God makes His abode in her. God makes His abode in us today in the mystery of the Eucharist. God came forth from Mary, like a bridegroom, winning joy for all and bestowing God's light on all. We are called then to carry a little bit of that light and joy to our darkened and sad world. Mary is like a clear and shining sky in which God has arisen like the Sun. This sun will fill all things with the divine warmth and His life-giving brightness. Our tiny eyes cannot see all the light. Our tiny lips cannot sing all the praise that is due, but tiny Jesus in the manger breaks our bonds and limits and fills our hearts with joy.