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The
highest courage is to dare to be yourself in the face of adversity,
choosing right over wrong, ethics over convenience, and truth over
popularity.
Travel the path of integrity without looking back, for THERE IS
NEVER A WRONG TIME TO DO THE RIGHT THING.
-
Bishop Soc Villegas
25 July 2007
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FULL OF GRACE
“Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
(Luke 1:28)
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
December 8, 2009
The angel Gabriel greeted
Mary, “Hail, favored one!” (Lk 1:28a). Other translations render
this as “Hail, full of grace!”[1] The angel did not greet
her as “Mary” but as “full of grace.” In effect, this was her
name. In Semitic usage, the name given to a person signified that
person’s calling in life. For example, her Son would be named
“Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Mt
1:21b). And he would be named “Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with
us.’” (Mt 1:23b).
What then did this naming mean? It meant that Mary was not only
unstained by original sin, but that she was the embodiment of perfect
holiness. Grace is the free gift of God Himself. Grace is the means by
which one participates in the very life of God. Being filled with grace
meant that Mary was favored by God, that she was immersed in His love,
that God was profoundly present in her life, that she could live her
life in outstanding holiness, and that God intended to use her mightily
for His purposes.
God had acted in mighty ways before, as He used individuals for His
purposes. God called Gideon to save His people from the Midianites. The
angel appeared to Gideon saying, “The Lord is with you, O champion!”
(Jgs 6:12). Gideon went on, with just 300 soldiers, to defeat the
Midianites, Amalekites and Kedemites who were as numerous as locusts (Jgs
7:12).
God used a pious widow, Judith, to cause the defeat of the mighty
Assyrian army and thus save God’s people Israel. Uzziah said to
Judith, “Blessed are you, daughter, by the Most High God, above all
the women on earth; and blessed be the Lord God” (Jdt 13:18).
But none of these can compare with how God acted in the life of Mary.
Now God was about an even mightier work, that of bringing salvation to
all the earth. For this purpose He would send His very own Son. And for
that, He would choose a lowly woman in Israel as His instrument.
And so the angel Gabriel made the proclamation. The Lord was with Mary.
The Lord would use her mightily. She was the highly favored one. She was
filled with grace.
The fullness of grace was displayed in Mary’s virtues, which allowed
her to respond with her yes to God, and to truly be prepared to be used
mightily by Him.
First, she had the grace of humility. She had submitted her life to God,
and accepted that her life was no longer her own, but God’s to do with
as He pleased. Even as the angel Gabriel’s words greatly troubled her,
she took to heart what he said with openness and surrender.
Second, she had the grace of faith. She knew God could accomplish
anything, even the humanly impossible. She knew that God had only her
good at heart, and she fully trusted that God’s plan for her life was
the best there could ever be.
Third, she had the grace of obedience. She was the Lord’s handmaid,
and she was open to anything God wanted to do in her life. All God had
to do was to say the word and she would obey. Even today Mary stands out
as the prime example of true discipleship.
Grace is necessary for one to be pure and holy. Mary was fully graced.
Thus she is holy Mary.
Mary was pure and holy because she was destined to be the mother of God.
Jesus, the Word made flesh, was “full of grace” (Jn 1:14). By
God’s design, as the bearer of the holy One, Mary too was made full of
grace.
*
* *
(This
article is taken from the book Forty More Days with
Mary)
[1] Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic
Edition.
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