Today, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord, remembering that the birth of Jesus was foretold to Mary through the messenger of God, the archangel Gabriel. We celebrate it deliberately on this day, the 25th of March, exactly nine months before the celebration of the Nativity of the Lord on Christmas Day.
This is an important celebration of our faith, because if Mary hadn’t been so cooperative, well, salvation history may have been affected rather poorly. But she said yes, even though she could never have known how this would all turn out. Her fiat, her faith-filled “yes” resounds through the ages to ring in the final chapter of God’s saving grace poured out on the world. We too are called on, time and again, to make our own fiat, our own leap of faith, saying “yes” to God’s plan for our lives. We don’t get the big picture either before we have to make that decision, we are called to cooperate with God and trust that he will provide the grace to bless our efforts. The Psalmist’s prayer is ours too, today: “Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.”