Today is the feast of the Annunciation of the birth of Our Lord. It is also known as the feast of Mary’s yes to be the mother of the “Son of the Most High”. Gabriel’s news must have taken the young maiden Mary by surprise. It was totally out of the everyday experience of anybody, least of all a teen-ager, that it must have scared her. But I like it that Mary had poise and presence of mind and engaged Gabriel in a serious dialogue.
However, in life we have to make choices. We cannot remain forever in a status of dialogue and reflection. We have to arrive at a “therefore”. And Mary proves that, indeed, she is a mature woman.
I don’t know when was the exact time that Mary has made up her mind to say yes to God’s plan. But I have a hunch, I think it was when Gabriel said, “nothing is impossible to God” because immediately after this, Mary says her yes, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
We, too, have our own "annunciation" moments when our best laid plans seem to turn upside-down. We have a choice. We can either cry over the "what has been", or we can embrace the "what can be". The choice is ours to make. The choice depends on whether we believe in the God who writes straight with crooked lines.
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