The Rosary in a Year (with Fr. Mark-Mary Ames) - Day 49: How Can This Be?

Episode Date: February 18, 2025

How do we move forward when we can’t see God’s plan ahead of us? Fr. Mark-Mary leads us in a meditation on the mystery of the Annunciation, explaining how Mary can show us the way. She may not have had perfect understanding, but she had perfect faith, and can teach us this faith through the Rosary. Today’s focus is the mystery of the Annunciation and we will be praying one Our Father, three Hail Marys, and one Glory Be. For the complete reading plan, visit https://ascensionpress.com/riy.

I'm Father Mark Mary with Franciscan Friars with the Renewal and this is the Rosary In a Year podcast where through prayer and meditation, the rosary brings us deeper into relationship with Jesus and Mary and becomes a source of grace for the whole world. The Rosary in a Year is brought to you by Ascension. This is Day 49. To download the prayer plan for Rosary in a Year, visit ascensionpress.com forward slash rosary in a year or text R-I-Y to 33777. You'll get an outline of how we're going to pray each month and it's great way to track

your progress. The best place to listen to podcasts in the Ascension app, there's special features built just for this podcast and also recordings of the full rosary with myself and other friars. On behalf of myself and the team here at Ascension, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank everyone who's helped support this podcast financially. Your support is so appreciated and helps us to reach as many people as possible. And if you haven't already, please consider supporting us at ascensionpress.com forward slash support. Before reflecting on the passage, here's what we're going to be doing as we go through the mysteries again. Beginning today, we're going to visit all of the mysteries of the Rosary and the scriptures associated with them one more time.

As you know, we just looked at them a little bit more of an exegetical, looking at the literal sense of like what's actually happening, what's being fulfilled, etc. We're going to be focusing now as we move through the mysteries on what we historically call the spiritual sense. So I'll be reading the gospel passage and then essentially giving a homily, a little reflection of a spiritual reality, spiritual grace that we can focus on and ask for as

we pray with these particular mysteries. We're going to begin here with the joyful mysteries. And so I'll read the Gospel. This is starting at Luke 1 verse 26. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.

But she was greatly troubled at the same and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found a favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father, David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom, there will be no end.'

And Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no husband? And the angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called Holy, the Son of God. And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible. 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. I can't say enough of how rich a gift this gospel passage is in so far as it gives us what I would refer to or think of as the most privileged insight into the interior life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. So first of all, she's there, just a young woman minding her business in Nazareth. And the angel comes and says, "'Hail, full of grace.'" And what does it say about Mary?

There's this almost like a physical response. that says, she was greatly troubled at the saying and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. There's this automatic movement, this involuntary movement of, okay, like, what do I do with this? Like, what is happening? The angel perceiving what's happened continues to reveal some of God's plan, continues to speak and to do his job as a messenger. And he offers some encouragement, like, don't be afraid.

You have found favor with God. And then he goes on to say, like, what must have just been, like, literally beyond comprehension in the natural sense, like, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, you should call him Jesus. And he'll be called the son of the most high. And more of the mystery is being revealed. But Mary, to Mary, it elicits another question. Okay, you just said that I'm going to conceive

and bear a son. How can this be? It's I have no husband. All right. And then the angel again has a response. The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the most high will overshadow you. And then, right, there's another one. Now the angel continues, and behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has conceived a son.

Another huge surprise. Okay, how can this be? Because my cousin Elizabeth is old and barren and she is conceived. And Mary has this experience which I think a lot of us can relate to. Like, God comes and in reality, like the more of the mystery is revealed, the more God's plan is revealed, like kind of the more questions we have. How is this actually going to unfold? This isn't totally revealed. Mary will not have like perfect understanding.

She won't know the 40 year plan or the 30 year plan. So she doesn't have perfect understanding, but she does have perfect faith. And so Mary receives what the messenger of God reveals. She responds to it. She engages. She has a conversation. And then finally, she says this, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word. The mystery remains veiled.

Before the mystery with perfect faith, perfect love, perfect hope and perfect trust, Mary says, okay. Let it be to me according to your word. We'll hear later on about Mary, that she pondered these things in her heart. She kept these things in her heart. This passage here from Luke chapter one gives us an insight to what this actually looks like.

New mysteries, new events continue to unfold, often surprising. new events continue to unfold, often surprising. Mary experiences them in a way that's fully human, but also fully filled with faith. She questions, she remains though. She questions, but with faith, and she remains. And she continues to make the journey, be it done unto me according to your word.

As she encounters Jesus, you know, 12 year old Jesus in the temple, and he says, don't you know I have to be about my father's business, my father's house. She can process it in relationship with the Lord. Okay, and then she says, let it be done unto me according to your word. And as Jesus goes on his ministry, as he says things like, don't you know, like the Son of Man is going to have to be handed over and going to die and rise on the third day. OK, let it be done unto me according to your word. As Jesus is arrested and taken before Pilate and ultimately crucified,

Mary is going to be there. She's going to be there experiencing it with the fullness of her humanity, but also keeping this perfect disposition of trust, of faith, of fidelity, like be it done unto me, according to your word. And so my brothers and sisters, we asked the Blessed Virgin Mary's prayers and we looked to her as an example and a model

of how like Mary to remain faithful before the mystery, and often surprising mystery, and maybe even a scary or even a troubling mystery. We receive it, we process it with the Lord. And again and again we say, be it done unto me according to your word. Like this is how we make the journey of faith. This is how we make the journey to heaven.

I may not have perfect understanding, but Lord give me perfect faith. Give me perfect trust. Give me perfect confidence. Bringing before the Lord the mystery of our life. The events, the realities as they unfold at times mysterious, at times troubling. Let's bring them before the Lord with faith.

And with Mary let us say, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word." In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death, amen. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners. Now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

All right. Thanks, everybody. Thanks for joining me and praying with me again today. I look forward to continuing the journey with you tomorrow. Polk while Polk, friends. Bye now.