Chosen Before The World Began

Has someone ever asked you for help with a task that you judged was just too difficult for you and was going to take up too much of your time? Have you ever been asked to do something you thought was too hard, impossible or even dangerous?

Chances are, if the person making this request of you was someone you didn’t care too much about like a neighbor or coworker, you might have helped them as a courtesy, but you were not too enthusiastic about it. In fact, you may have even resented the imposition on your time and energy. Or you may have even flat out refused to do it or come up with some excuse as to why you couldn’t.

However, if the person asking you was someone you cared about, someone you truly loved, you may have not felt confident that you were the right person for the job or you may have even felt afraid, but you said “yes” anyway. When we love someone, we are willing to go out of our way for him or her. We are even willing to risk our health and safety to protect them. Love makes what is  difficult, easy. It makes the impossible, possible.

In today’s gospel, Mary finds herself in just such a situation. She is told by the angel Gabriel that she will be the mother of the Messiah. Saint Luke tells us that she is “greatly troubled” not only because an angel has appeared to her but because of what he is asking of her. She feels confused, “pondering what sort of greeting this must be?” In fact, the greeting “The Lord is with you”, in the Old Testament, meant that God was about to ask something momentous of you, that you were going to play a role that would be important for the people of Israel. Mary’s heart must have been racing and her mind spinning as she thought,  “Why me?”.

Despite her fear and confusion, Mary says, “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary is able to say “yes” to the angel because of her love for God. She trusts that if he has chosen her, it is for a good reason. Her great faith allows her to put herself into God’s hands so that His will could be accomplished in her. Her great love and faith made what seemed difficult, easy and what was impossible, possible.

The fact is that Mary was chosen by God not at the moment of the angel’s appearance to her but at the time of her conception. Before the beginning of time, it was our Heavenly Father’s plan to create Mary as the perfect mother for His Son, Jesus. He protected her from the corruption of sin so that she could enjoy all the virtues and graces necessary to raise Jesus to be our Saviour. Because she was free from sin, she was able to sacrifice her own plans for the future when Gabriel announced God’s plan to her. The courage and strength that was cultivated in her through love made it possible for her to accompany Jesus through much of His ministry and, ultimately, to stand at the foot of the cross supporting Him with her presence and praying for mercy on those who killed Him. After He rose from the dead, she continued to support and witness to His disciples as they proclaimed the good news in the power of the Holy Spirit. She continues to serve us as our mother in faith, supporting us with her prayers.

God gave Mary this incredible grace also as a sign of hope for us. Mary is a human being just as we are. The graces she enjoyed were given to her so that she could take on the singular role she would perform as the mother of Jesus and as our mother. Likewise, we can trust that God will give us whatever we need for the role we are called to take on. God promises to provide us with whatever we need to do His will, just as He did for Mary. If we offer our hearts to Him in love and put our trust in Him, we will discover that what seems difficult will be easy and what seems impossible will now be possible for us.

This Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary also teaches us what God’s ultimate plan for us is. Like Mary, He wants to free each of us from sin. Saint Paul teaches us in today’s second reading that “[God] chose us in [Jesus], before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him.” God’s ultimate desire for us is not only to avoid sin but to do good. It is not only that we should avoid hurting others but that we should love them. That means that, whatever sin we are struggling with, whatever weakness that keeps us from doing the good we truly desire to do, will one day be conquered through God’s love if we entrust ourselves to Him daily.

Through Mary, God brought our Savior, Jesus, into the world. He desires the same for us - to bring Jesus into the world through our service to others. The Blessed Virgin Mary serves as an example of love and trust for us. She serves as our hope that, one day, the wounds of sin will be healed in us. And she serves us as our mother, praying for us and encouraging us to follow her Son, Jesus, and to do whatever He asks of us, just as she did.