Today is the Feast of the Annunciation.
After school, I took my children to church to bring flowers to Mary.
We passed the tabernacle first, went in and said a prayer. My young son was anxious to take the flowers back to Mary, so he asked if he could go there.
I said yes.
I reminded him to please say goodbye to Jesus.
He waved at the tabernacle and smiled affectionately just like he does when he says goodbye to his father and me.
"Bye, Jesus. I love you."
Off he went in search of Mary.
As we set the flowers alongside her statue, I explained that today was a beautiful day because it commemorated the day that Mary learned she would be Jesus' mommy.
We talked about how Mary was probably pretty scared. And confused. Excited, too.
Because even though she couldn't see Him, God had already become a person. And she was in charge of keeping Him safe.
I explained that if he was ever scared or confused he could talk to Mary, because she understands what it is like to feel that way.
Tonight when we say our prayers, we will thank Mary for saying yes to God.
And we will thank God the Father for the gift of His Son.
We will of course have very special prayers for Jesus. Although we celebrate His birth on Christmas Day, this feast commemorates the day He became human.
Mary couldn't yet see Him, but she trusted God that He was there.
He was a person.
And she was His Mother.
Beautiful story. You are a wonderful teacher for your children.
ReplyDeleteThere is a scene in the Nativity Story where Joseph and Mary are in the desert, and discussing their soon-to-be-born Child. And Joseph commented that he hoped he could actually teach Jesus something. Aside from being scared, Mary and Joseph probably didnt know what to expect! What would the Son of God be like?? We know now, but they had no idea!
You are right, they both deserve many thanks and prayers for what they did.
God bless.