With Mary, God begins His work of restoring nature to the purity He intended- the beauty
which is a reflection of Himself.
Many have compared God's work of grace in our lives to snowfall which cloaks the barren
tree, giving beauty to otherwise fruitless branches. Iced over with freshly fallen snow, the
tree glimmers in the sunlight more brilliantly than its brown bark would allow. The glaze
replaces the natural beauty of the leaves and fruit which the winter has stolen.
But, that image of grace presupposes that we are too corrupt to be restored. It presupposes
a winter that will never end. Grace, in this image, cannot bring us back to our original luster,
but can only cover us over so we don't look so bad.
As Catholics understand it, grace is more like the sun whose rays warm the barren tree
stimulating the bud, the leaf and, finally, the fruit. Grace restores the original beauty marred
by the winter of sin.
If grace were like snow, our branches would never bear fruit. They would remain iced over,
unable to thrive. But, God wants us to grow and to reflect the beauty He intended for His
creation.
The Marian feasts- the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, the Annunciation- all
celebrate not what Mary accomplished, but what God accomplished through Jesus. Mary, as
the first disciple of Jesus, is the first to receive the benefits of Jesus' saving work. She is the
first to taste the victory over sin by being herself exempted from its stain at her conception.
She is the first to celebrate the resurrection of the body through her assumption into
heaven.
What she has received is also what God holds in store for us. Like Mary, He wants to restore
us to the sinless, pure creatures He intended us to be. We, like Mary, will one day know
victory over sin when all the scars of sinfulness will be healed. And, like Mary, we will know
God's victory over death when our bodies are raised on the last day.
So, today's feast of the Annunciation is not for Mary to celebrate alone. It's not
like a birthday party in which only one person is honored. Today's feast is about the power
and purpose of God's grace which restores the original beauty sin has deformed- not to
cover over our shame, but to render us truly good and truly beautiful as God intended.
God achieved it in Mary so that she could be equipped with everything she needed to serve
as Jesus' mother. God will achieve it in us when His work of restoration is consummated at
our individual deaths and at the end of the world.
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