The Virgin Mary's faith changed the course of history

When Mary answered yes to the Archangel Gabriel, the Son of God took flesh in her womb, and the history of mankind entered the time of divine grace. Yes, it is through Mary's faith that humanity would receive salvation, "grace upon grace" (Jn 1:16). From this point on, the history of mankind has not been blind, but has had meaning, and a happy meaning at that.

A woman, who became a mother by the work of the Holy Spirit, welcomed the Son of God in the name of her people Israel and of all humanity. She received him and gave him. No man could have accomplished such a marvel. Ever since the first symbolic woman, Eve, humanity had suffered estrangement from God. Through Mary, the new Eve, humanity rediscovers intimate union with God.

By solemnly celebrating the Annunciation, we celebrate Jesus the Savior, born of a woman, Mary. This feast is first and foremost Christological, before being Marian.

Filled with grace, predestined from all eternity to divine motherhood, Mary of Nazareth first received the Son of God into her soul through faith. Saint Augustine, the great Doctor of the Church, explains Mary's greatness as a disciple. She conceived the Son of God, first in her heart, by embracing the message of the angel Gabriel, before conceiving Jesus in her womb. "What is in the soul is more than what is in the womb", the Bishop of Hippo explained.

Thanks to Mary's trust, all humanity will henceforth live with the risen Christ, as the rite of the Paschal candle teaches us: "Christ, yesterday and today, the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. To him be time, to him be eternity, to him be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen."

The feast of the Annunciation therefore concerns us directly. Through the Virgin Mary, the divine plan of salvation is fulfilled for us. God the Father blesses us in Mary's Son, and we are called to become "adopted sons through Jesus Christ" (Eph 1:5).

This is why the divine joy that Mary experienced at the Annunciation also comes to us who believe in the Word made flesh. Today, the Church rejoices!

Fr. Manuel Rivero O.P.

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