Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
It is quite fitting that the Feast of the Annunciation coincides with a solar eclipse this year. There is a tremendous amount of beautiful Marian symbology associated with the Moon. On a clear night, the Moon can be breathtakingly luminous. Sometimes it’s so bright that it can be difficult to look at directly. An important observation, however, is that the Moon produces no light of its own. Rather, the majestic luminance of the Moon results from the fact that it reflects the light of the Sun. In the same way, the exquisite majesty of our Blessed Mother is not something that she herself is the source of. Rather, her disposition of complete receptivity permits the full light of God’s love to permeate and illuminate her soul unhindered before it is reflected back out into creation in its totality.
In the Gospel today, the archangel Gabriel tells Mary that “the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.” Mary was chosen to be the vessel through which God took on human flesh and revealed Himself to us. When the Sun and the Moon meet in the sky, the Moon is completely overshadowed. Through this overshadowing, however, the majestic beauty of the Sun’s corona (i.e., crown) which is typically hidden from sight is revealed in its glory and splendor. As the hidden majesty of the Sun is revealed through the cooperation of the Moon, so likewise the majesty of the Son is made visible through the cooperation of Mary.
To cite Psalm 19, “the heavens declare the glory of God; the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.” How beautiful and ineffable it is to recognize the many ways that the mysteries of the Incarnation have been etched into the fabric of the cosmos. As we gaze in wonder at the heavens, however, let us recall and seek to imitate the example of our Blessed Mother. Do we adopt the same posture of receptivity to God’s will in our own lives? How might we more fully allow the light of God’s love to be more perfectly reflected through our words, our actions, our attitudes, and our interior lives?