The First Joyful Mystery

The Annunciation

By May/June 2009

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God's messengers appear in our lives

"The angel said to her, 'Don't be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called teh Son of the Most High God.'" Luke 1:30-32

Reflection

The word "angel" comes from the Greek angelos, meaning messenger. Angels are God's messengers and the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, bringing her frightening but also joyful news: she will bear God's son. The Hebrew name Gabriel means "God is my strength." God shows his strength to Mary through Gabriel's message: God's Son Jesus is to become the peace for the world, indeed for the whole universe, for all time.

God sends us messengers, too, through other people, through events, through our thougths, intuitions, and dreams. The message can be both frightening and hope-filled, as it was for Mary. God breaks into our lives and promises us new life, new ways of being. Are we attuned to the angels in our lives? How do we respond to God's message? Mary answered: "I am the Lord's servant...May it happen to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38) Do we have the same courage as Mary did?

God also calls us to be messengers to others: angels of strength, of hope, and of love. Do we consider ourselves to be angels, like Gabriel? Are we aware that our words and actions can serve as God's message to others?

Mission Call

Scarboro Missions' founder Monsignor John Mary Fraser felt God calling him to mission, first to China, then to Japan. All Scarboro missionaries hear God's angels calling us to serve people in other cultures. We receive grace and strength from God to answer "Yes" as Mary did. In mission, we discover mutuality with the people we serve: many of them are messengers for us, as we, too, are messengers fo hope to them. Upon returning to Canada, we further discover our call to be messengers to our own people.

As we pray this decade of the rosary, let us ask God for the grace to see the angels in our lives. Let us pray for strength to be angels to others. Let us pray for the grace to say "Yes" to God's call in our lives. Let us pray for our own personal intentions.

Amazon Word

Rosa's newborn son lies resting in a hammock. Her sister Maria tells me that Rosa is taking a man to court because he attempted to kill her. The man recently appeared, offering Rosa money to drop the charge of homicide. But Maria insisted that Rosa take him to court. I ask Maria if the man is the father of the baby. "No," Maria answers. "I believe the baby is a child of God!"

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