Third Sunday of Lent
22 March 2003
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
Christmas comes nine months from this Tuesday, March 25th, and for this reason Christians throughout the world will relax their Lenten penance and sing "Glory to God in the highest" at the Solemn Mass of the Annunciation. The great feast of the virginal conception of the Lord Jesus by Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit. During that Mass, the Church will once again ponder the eternal mystery of God’s love which concealed the New Covenant in the Old and revealed the Old Covenant in the New. The Scripture lessons from Isaiah (The virgin shall conceive and bear a son.) and Hebrews (We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.) prepare us to receive and understand the Gospel of salvation announced to Mary by the Archangel Gabriel: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:30-33).
This miraculous conception, the Mystery of the Incarnation, is accomplished by two powers: the action of the Holy Spirit, and the consent of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Son of God, the eternal Word of the Father, took flesh of the Virgin Mary and became man in her womb only because she consented freely to surrender her whole life in the obedience of faith to God. "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word," Mary responded to Gabriel’s Annunciation (Luke 1:38). At that moment, a humble virgin of Nazareth became the Mother of God and the exemplar of holiness for all mankind, but she came to such an extraordinary place only because she was first, last, and always obedient to God’s will for her life.
On December 25th the Church celebrates the birth of her Lord with great joy; let us with equal joy celebrate on March 25th the conception of the Lord Jesus and give thanks for the faith and obedience of the Mother of God.
Father Newman
Our Lady of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, pray for us.