The “Hail, Mary” is probably one of the first prayers most of us learned. As we see in today’s Gospel, most of the words of this prayer are taken from the words of Luke’s Gospel. The angel Gabriel greets Mary with these words: “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” (Luke 1:28). The next line of the prayer is taken from the words of Elizabeth’s greeting: “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” (Luke 1:42). So, when we pray the “Hail, Mary” we greet Mary with the words of the angel Gabriel and the words of Elizabeth.
The most important words in the Annunciation are Mary’s response to God’s call to “bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” Mary’s words of response are words of faith and trust in God: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38). Mary declares that she is the “handmaid” or “servant” of the Lord. This means that she puts God’s will above her own will since God is her Lord. Paul uses the same word to describe himself: “Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God…” (Romans 1:1). Like Mary, Paul has been called by God to be an apostle and a servant of Jesus Christ.
In today’s second reading from Ephesians, we are reminded of our own calling to be followers and servants of God: “God chose us in Jesus…to be holy and without blemish. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ.” Since we are the chosen of God and adopted children of God, we are called to follow the way of Mary and put God’s will before our own will. We are called to be servants of Jesus as we proclaim that Jesus is not only Lord, but Jesus is my Lord. Mary was greeted with the words, “Hail, Mary, full of grace the Lord is with you.” We are also greeted as people who are full of grace as we hear in the opening Greeting at mass: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 1:7).
Image: “The Annunciation” by Emily Barney is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.