Your Weekly Reflection in Prayer: 4/7/2013

"Mary said, 'Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to Your word.' Then the angel departed from her." Luke 1:38   April 7, 2013 Annunciation of the Lord (transferred from March 25th) Dear Friends,  This week we celebrate the feast of the Annunciation, when Mary said yes, gave her 'fiat' to God. A momentous event! In the Divine Office, the Liturgy of the Hours, the priest reads how St. Bernard describes this scene. Mary has heard the angel speak to her:  "The angel is waiting for your answer. We, too, are waiting, O Lady. Adam asks this of you. Abraham and David beg this of you… Answer, O Virgin, answer speedily. Speak the Word and receive the Word. Why delay, why tremble. Believe, speak, receive!" And Mary said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to Your word." We have just celebrated Divine Mercy Sunday. In this feast of Mary we see how God depends on Mary to say yes, to cooperate with God's mercy. We, too, are called upon, in less dramatic ways, to say yes to God in our everyday lives, to let God's word of mercy enter again into our world.  O God, You willed that Your Word should take on the reality of human flesh in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Grant that we who confess our Redeemer to be God and Man, may merit to become partakers even in His divine nature. We ask this through Christ our Lord.     Amen Rev. Peter Schineller, S.J., CMMB Board of Directors PS: Today is World Health Day. Please say a special prayer for those in need around the world.