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ANNUNCIATION

Prayer is all about listening.

Prayer moments are annunciation moments at times.

When Mary went to the synagogue in Nazareth, she would see people getting up to read the scriptures. She would hear calls and echoes from the scrolls – especially words from the prophets urging all of us to listen:

“Be still and know that I am God.”
“Be silent, O Israel, and listen.”
“Hear O heavens and listen O earth.”
“Hear the word of the Lord.”
“Hear O Israel.”
“Listen O house of David.”
“You who are deaf, listen.”
“Listen to my voice and then I will be your God.”

Lord, teach me how to listen.

Lord, teach me how to pray.

Prayer is all about listening.

Prayer is all about questions.

Prayer is all about “Yes” or “No”.

Prayer is all about responding.

Prayer is all about the call to serve.

Picture Mary as one who listens.

Picture Mary as one who listens as she prays.

Picture Mary as one who takes time out
to listen to the silent shouts of God.

Picture Mary
listening to the everyday ways
the Lord gifts us:
listening in the market place,
listening in the synagogue,
listening to her parents,
listening to her neighbors,
listening to Joseph – the man she loves –
but also listening for the Word of the Lord,
in prayer
in the quiet moments of life.

Picture Mary hearing
the Word of the Lord
in life’s everyday moments.

The Annunciation
is history’s big listening moment.
A young girl begins hearing
a new vision;
a young girl begins hearing God’s announcement,
that the Word wants to become flesh
and live among us.

God was wanting a change in history.

Now that’s Good News.

Now that’s an annunciation.

Now to hear God’s News,
one needs to have
an open mind,
an open heart,
an open spirit,
gifts so necessary
to be a person of prayer.

Painters have often painted
pictures of the Annunciation.

Which one is your favorite?

The angel God sent to speak to Mary
was Gabriel – pictured in thousands of paintings
as an angel with wings and a flowing white garment,
but what did Mary see and hear
at the Annunciation?

Was she by an open window?
Was she feeling a gentle breeze?
Was she looking into the morning light
or the setting sun?
Was the angel a whisper of God
uttered deep in the recesses of her being,
asking her, a teenage girl,
to make an eternal decision?

Listening is not just silence.
At times it’s also asking questions.

Mary asked questions?
Mary received mysterious answers.

And then Mary said, “Yes!”

Mary said, “Amen,” to Our Father,
and her world and our world
would never be the same again.

What Mary experienced,
was God’s question to every person,
“Will you bring Christ to the world?”

Annunciation moments
are not life threatening moments.They are life challenging moments.

Annunciation moments!
The call to change,
the call to change our plans,
to say, “Yes”,
to say, “Amen”,
to a new spirit in our life,
to let a new spirit overshadow us,
to let God break our ice,
to let God pierce our darkness,
to let God speak in our silence,
to let God go through our defenses
to let Christ enter deep into the womb of our being.

Annunciation moments.

Feeling the Wind,
seeing the Light,
hearing the word,
tasting the Bread and the Wine,
meeting the hurting,
stopping to be with the poor,
any and every way
God tries to announce his way into our lives.

Annunciation!

Morning, opening a window,
feeling the gentle breeze on our face
and saying, “Amen Yes
Thank you God for another day.”

Annunciation.

Help me to live this day to the full.

Annunciation.
Struggling to say “yes” to God,
when the Spirit surrounds us
like the wind,
sometimes gently,
sometimes violent,
but always calling us, urging us,
challenging us to be:
a better listener,
a better friend,
a better witness,
a better wife,
a better husband,
a better worker,
a better Christian,
a better follower
of Christ in the modern world.

Annunciation.
And Mary said,
“I am the servant of the Lord,
let it be done to me as you say.”