Monday August 22nd

Our Lady Queen and Mother, 22nd of August

As we celebrate today the 'happily ever after' of Mary, the Gospel of today is that of the familiar Annunciation scene - where it all began for Mary - her 'once upon a time'.

The narrative of the Annunciation has much to teach us - every day. As Mary lived out her 'Yes' to God every day that followed, so too we are called today to live out again the initial 'yes' of our own vocation, be it priesthood, religious life, married life, widowhood, the single life, the cross of separation, divorce or widowhood. We renew the 'yes' of conscious deliberate acceptance according to our state of life.

The Annunciation scene can help us in the following ways to provide a template for our prayer and renewal each morning:

(i) We invoke our guardian angel to come into our house (our room, our heart) as Gabriel entered Mary's house

(ii) We take the time to 'listen' as the angel invited Mary

(iii) We listen to the words 'Be not afraid' as we bring before God our concerns, worries, anxieties, fears - as Mary was disturbed so we find ourselves disturbed in the events and changes of life. (there are 366 references to 'Be not afraid' in the Bible.

(iv)We ask 'how' rather than 'why'. We ask the Lord through the angel and Mary's intercession - 'how can this come about'? as it applies to the plan God may have for me as it unfolds . Today, this week, this month, this year, there are and will be new dimensions and implications that are revealed to me arising from that initial 'yes' I made to God.

(v) We hear the words: 'Nothing is impossible to God' and reflect on how those words throw light on my/our situation

(vi) ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you’ - we invoke the Holy Spirit to renew us this day

(vi) We make a conscious verbal acceptance - 'Be it done unto me according to your word', or another similar phrase such as 'thy will be done' or ’Jesus I trust in you' which we repeat throughout the day, and a prayer of openness, adaptability and surrender of our will to God as we take up our daily tasks.

(vii) ‘The angel left her'. Our prayer time concludes and we note and attend to the words and inspirations through the promptings of the Spirit we have received and the inspirations of the angel.

(viii) We ‘go with haste’ where are inspired to go through the daily events we hear about and which are called to mind in prayer - just as Mary heard of Elizabeth's pregnancy and went with haste to her, and brought Jesus to her, so we are prompted to bring the mercy of Jesus to others as we carry out acts of charity and mercy to our neighbour in their needs.