The Annunciation to Mary (cont.)
And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. - Lk 1:38
We long for the angel to linger, for that moment of clarity to remain with us, so that we might cling to that rather then embark on the long journey ahead with its doubts and misgivings. When we have moved beyond that moment of affirmation - you have found favor with God (30b) - in which God has reminded us that he has equipped us with everything we need, we become intimidated by the long road ahead of us.
In such times, the very fact that we were confident enough to assent to God's plan in the first place can be part of the sustenance we need for long road. We may think back to the time before our vision coalesced so clearly before us, and recognize something beyond our initial hunger and need that demonstrates to our memory that God was at work in setting our feet on the path we now tread.
Very often in our lives, though, it is no angelic being who is revealing God's will to us. The Church and the Scriptures teach us the way we are to go. We must learn to be as obedient to God's will as revealed through them as we think we would be to a miraculous intervention by an angel, or if we ever do encounter an angel we will be so entrenched in the habit of choosing our own will over God's that we will never be able to claim to be his servant and thereby to choose his will in this strange and weighty matter. And we know not what consequences will result from choosing our vision over God's.
God longs to allow his Spirit to overshadow us, to fill us with the presence of his Son (35) so that we might bear him to the world.
(he reminds himself.)
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