The Gospel of Luke, chapter 1:45

When Mary heard from the angel that she was to become the mother of the Son of God, through the Holy Spirit, she was “deeply troubled.” After all, she was a virgin and asked: “How, then, can this be?”

The Angel answered: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and God’s power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God.”

The special position of Mary in the church derives from her unique calling to be the mother of the Son of God. She was declared “full of grace” by God’s messenger; that is, free from ‘the fall from grace’ which has been the lot of all human nature since Adam’s original fall in the Garden of Eden. As the poet says, “Mary is our lowly nature’s solitary boast.”

In today’s gospel, St. Luke presents Mary as a towering example of trust in God’s will. When informed by God’s messenger that she would give birth to the Son of God, Mary immediately responded with faith: “I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me as you will.”

And then, Luke tells us that “Mary set out and went as quickly as she could to visit her cousin, Elizabeth, to tell her the good news.” Elizabeth also was with child; and Mary was the first evangelist to bring the good news of Christ’s birth to others.

After greeting Mary, joyfully, Elizabeth said: “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. The moment your greeting reached my ears, the child in my womb leaped with joy.” That is the wonderful, spiritual effect the good news of Jesus’ birth had on Elizabeth.

Mother Mary is our mother in the faith because she welcomed the Living Word of God into her life. She, more than anyone, allowed her life to be inspired by the Living Word, pondering it (Luke 2:19) and giving it birth.

Mary’s song of praise; the Magnificat, also foreshadows the preaching of her Son regarding the temptations of the world which stifle the life of the soul. The poor and the meek, Mary sings, are God’s cherished ones:

“My spirit rejoices in God my savior
for He has looked upon His lowly servant.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
And He has lifted up the lowly.”

Mary helps us appreciate that our whole self is never so fulfilled as when our bodies, like Mary’s, become temples of the Holy Spirit.

Through the Holy Spirit, Mary gave birth to the Son of God. We, too, can give birth to the Son of God if we let the Holy Spirit into our lives.

Fr. Hugh Duffy