MARY, THE FAVOURED ONE
We cannot end the Advent season without talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. To her, the angel applied the words of the prophet Zechariah: “Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion” (Zech 2:10), when he greeted her saying: “Rejoice, so highly favoured” (Lk 1:28).
Mary is like the daughter of Zion, and she is going to see the fulfillment of God’s promises. She must rejoice, because God has remembered the suffering of his people and is going to send the liberator, the Messiah; and she must rejoice because God has highly favoured her, choosing her to be the mother of the Messiah. Later on, Elisabeth would recognize this favour bestowed on Mary and call her “Blessed among women” and the “mother of my Lord” (Lk 1:42-43).
We are preparing ourselves to celebrate the birth of Jesus and we will do it rejoicing together with Mary. She carried Jesus in her womb and welcomed him in her arms; she brought him up with love and care; in a similar way, we must be ready to welcome Jesus in our lives and to give him a place in our homes.
With Mary, we must learn to listen to God’s message and be ready to accept his will, even when we do not understand it very well. She gave her final answer to God’s messenger: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you have said be done to me.” (Lk 1:38). Every time we pray Our Father, we say: Your will be done.
Looking at Mary, we must realize that we cannot be true disciples of Jesus and we cannot find salvation without having the same attitude and making the same decision: I am the servant of Lord; let your will be done.
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