The Feast of the Annunciation in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar was delayed to April 8 this year since it fell on Monday of Holy Week, which takes precedence.  It is a sign of the importance of this feast that, instead of skipping it, the Church rescheduled it so that it gets the respect it deserves.  The whole gospel hinges on the moment we celebrate today.  Without the Annunciation – or rather – without Mary’s consent, there would have been no Jesus, no disciples, no miracles, or parables. No sermon on the mount or Palm Sunday, no Good Friday, or Easter. But, because a teenage girl was open and receptive to the call of God and courageously said “YES,” the world was changed forever.

As I reflect on the lives of the many people in my life, I marvel at all the annunciations that have occurred just in this community!  Over many years, in places far and wide, hosts of young (or maybe not so young) women and men have heard a call from God – to be a vowed religious, or a minister, or an associate of a religious congregation.  To be a spiritual director, or a retreat leader or a contemplative leader in any field.  To be a teacher, or a nurse, or an attorney, or any of a host of other callings.  And if any one of us had ignored God’s call or refused it outright, this world would be changed forever.

We come to this Feast of the Annunciation not as observers but as participants in bringing the Word of God into flesh, just as Mary did.  Each of us, in our own way, makes God present through who we are and what we do.  Each and every day we continue to be invited by God to be overshadowed by the Spirit and allow God to do in us and through us whatever allows the Divine to grow.  Today we may be saying “yes” to things that are very different from when we were young women and men ready and eager to change the world.  But our yeses today are no less important now than then.  Whenever we say “Here I am.  Let it be done to me as You will,” the world changes a little.  Like Mary, as Meister Eckhart said, “We are all mothers of God, for God is always needing to be born.”

I invite us each to ponder: today, how will I allow God to become flesh in me?  And through me? Do I have the courage to say yes to God even though I don’t understand how it could possibly happen? How has my world been changed because of another person’s willingness to bring God’s presence to me?