A Sunday Thought About Our Lady's Ordinary Life of Extraordinary Love

Now that 2023 has taken off, Father A.E Breen assists us on this 2nd Sunday of January. Oh, that's right, the newfangled calendar has this as the Feast of the Epiphany. Almost forgot. Of course, the Feast of the Epiphany has been celebrated on January 6th - for centuries. 

Never mind; back to Father Breen.

He focuses on the Annunciation here. It's one of the greatest days in our long and not infrequently bedgraggled human history. Mary accepts the angels message. In that moment, Our Lord's Incarnation occurs - One Person, but with two natures: Divine and human. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary, still a virgin, holds Him in her womb and our salvation is assured. I don't know about you, but I simply love reading or hearing Luke's account. Each time calls for a heartfelt expression of gratitude to Our Blessed Mother. 

If you haven't read Luke's account lately, and your memory needs some sprucing up, take a moment or two to do so now.

With that, here are Father Breen's inspiring comments:  

“There is a wondrous naturalness and simplicity in St. Luke’s account of the Annunciation. We are actually transported to the scene, and made to witness the event itself. The angel first dispels Mary’s fears by announcing to her that she is acceptable to God. The phrase ‘thou hast found grace,’ is a pure Hebraism. It is a common expression in the Old Testament to express the goodwill and favor of one agent towards another. Of itself it would not manifest any singular prerogative of Mary over any other one with whom God was pleased; but, in fact, we know that it does express a degree of the divine love never given to any other creature. And yet what had Mary done to merit such love? God’s love for Mary was not mere caprice. To be sure, God’s preventing grace, and his co-operating grace, had been given in large measure to her, but she had not been an inert agent, dragged to her height of perfection, without contributing anything thereto. And yet her life was uneventful; she had not impressed her age. The great world was quite oblivious of her. There is one great truth illustrated by Mary’s life – that one does not need to startle the world by great deeds to please God. God judges not as man. The things that the world prizes are set at naught by God. One upward soaring of Mary’s soul to her Creator availed more in this appreciation than all the great deeds chronicled in the records of men. There is a practical lesson in Mary’s life for all. Most lives must be commonplace and uneventful. Sometimes, instead of making use of present opportunities in the uneventful life that is our portion, we sigh for a broader sphere of action in which to serve God. No doubt God sometimes calls chosen souls to a broader field, but these are isolated cases. The great mass of humanity must labor and strive in the ordinary, uneventful spheres of human life. Mary’s life teaches us that the highest sanctity can be achieved in the lowest, meanest walk of life. The devils can do great deeds; we cannot equal them. God cares not for such. There is a path to heaven from the lowest, dingiest place where human life drags out its brief span from eternity to eternity. God asks not of man brilliant, dazzling achievements; he asks what Mary gave him, the love of a pure heart; this everyone can give. Sanctity consists in doing the little deeds well – and in loving God.”

There are so many lessons we Catholic men at work can draw from this, starting with the fact that we need not "startle the world by great deeds to please God. God judges not as man. The things that the world prizes are set at naught by God." We simply need to perform all our tasks with fervor and exactness - a wonderful phrase put forth by Father Willie Doyle that we've quoted from time to time. 

I've read the full passage numerous times. Each time it impressed me more than the last. Being grounded in this understanding provides a great foundation from which to launch ourselves into 2023. 

Those of us who labor in obscurity can draw great inspiration and consolation from Our Lady's example. She did all and gave all with the love of a pure heart. Let's pray for the grace to follow her example in 2023.

Happy Sunday!