The Immaculate Conception of the B.V.M, Monday – 09th December 2019 — Gospel: Lk 1,26-38
Question of Surrender
The question, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?”does not draw a negative response from the angel. Because her question does not so much express doubt about what was to happen, i.e., the thought of bearing a son, but simply points out that she has not had sexual relations although she was betrothed to Joseph. Mary’s difficulty sets up the dramatic context for the truly startling explanation. Gabriel now explains that she would bear a child without the intervention of a man. Presented with the seeming impossibility of conceiving a child by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary did not stumble in her faith or try to run away from the angel Gabriel. Instead, she believed that God was capable of doing what he promised, and simply asked how it would come about. In faith, Mary relied on God and not on herself. She recognized God’s will and willingly accepted God’s purposes for her. In Patristic times, Mary’s question was interpreted this way. Mary is asking how is it possible for her to have a child and yet fulfill her desire to belong to God totally by her decision to remain a virgin always. God had preserved Mary from sin and concupiscence from the very first moment of her life through the gift of ‘Immaculate Conception’ because of the fact that she was to become the mother of the Son of God, virginally. From the first years of her life, she was led by the Holy Spirit to desire to live a virginal way of life. The decision not to know man was not a depreciation of marriage; but she had made a total gift of herself to God and would be wholly his and his alone.
