The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Therefore the child to be born
will be called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.

Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.

What kind of greating is this? in a word it is her name (in heaven)! Names are really important. To name something is to declare authority over it. In the bible when God calls one the fathers to lead His church He gives them a new name. This is God claiming His authority over the person, but it is also giving us a view into heaven. When God created your soul too, He spoke a word, and you came to be. That word is your heavenly name. It represents who you are, all that you will do, and all that God wills for your life. There are many examples in the bible. Abram was renamed Abraham, which means father of many. Jacob was renamed isreal, which means struggles with God, and Simon was renamed Peter, which means rock. And there are many more and they are all wonderfully insightful for understanding these figures, who they are, and what God willed for them.

Mary’s name in heaven is “full of grace.” How do we know this…? First the word used for her name “full of grace” in greek is “kecharitomene.” This is an extremely rare verb, never used in this form anywhere else in the bible. This verb is used in the perfect passive participle form, which means that the verb has already happened, and is continuing to happen. So this means that the will of God that made Mary “full of grace” has already happened, and contiues to happen. In addition, the angle Gabriel uses this verb, not in a way to describe her state of being, but in a way that would only be done if it were her actual name. This is because the exclamation “hail” at the beginning of his sentence is misleading, and can have multiple meanings. This word in greek “chaire,” when litterally translated means “rejoice.” So, when you put all of this understanding together Gabriel is simply saying “rejoice Mary the lord is with you!” but instead of using the word Mary, which we know her by, he is using the name that God gave her in Heaven… “Full of Grace”

Can you think of a more perfect name for her, she was born without stain of sin, because she was bestowed with saving grace, as a beloved daughter of God. She recieved an indwelling of grace when she was was espoused to the Holy Spirit, and concieved the Lord Jesus in her womb. And she recieved and out pouring of divine grace whe she became the mother of Jesus and carried the incarnate Lord in her womb for 9 months. She then continued to recieve sustaining grace for all of the years that she raised Jesus, and loved Him. And finally she recieved consoling grace when she watched Him be sacraficed and die on the cross for the salvation of the world.

She could not have done any of these things without God’s grace, and being totally and completely open to that grace in every aspect of her life. This is why we show Mary such high reverence. She was the best of us, modeling for all mankind how to be truly human, and always trusting in God’s will, and always pointing to Jesus at every moment of her life. Let us never forget this, and to never stop looking to her for help and guidance. She is a good mother and she will always lead us to Jesus.

The Next thing that we need to discuss is Mary’s reponse to the angel. She says: “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” Mary’s words here are almost exactly the same words as Zechariah spoke when he was told about the miraculous birth of John. So why is it that Zechariah was punished for his response and Mary wasn’t? The answer is in the heart. Zechariah, was an old man, and his wife was an old woman, and he was indignant at the suggestion that his wife would now, in her old age, concieve, and he held that disbelief in his heart. Mary on the other hand, trusted completely, and was obedient to the will of God, but her response was simply and expression of her lack of understanding how something like this could happen.

Her confusion was not because she did not understand how babies are made, she was in fact already betrothed in marriage, and old enough to understand what married people do. But her confusion centered around that fact that she and Joseph were going to have a celebate marriage. We know this because of the way in which she respondes. It was rare thing to have a marriage of this kind, but there were religious orders at the time where deeply faithful people could live in communitity, married but celebate. But even more we know because of the greek used here. The phrase “I have no relations with a man,” the verb “have” is in the greek present indicative active tense. This is a verb that describes a present state of being, not a comment of what I have been or what i will be in the future, but a comment of who I am right now. She was already married, and so this means that she was already living this way.

Finally, want to discuss her humble acceptance of God’s will for her life. The catholic world calls this her “fiat” because that is the first words (in latin) of her response, “May it be done to me according to your word.” I find is so remarkable that this young girl could have the pressence of mind to contemplate these momentus things being proposed to her, and ultimately say yes. What humility and trust that this must have taken for Mary to respond this way. She was just a child but more faithful to God than any of us. She is a model for how we too need to live our lives, completely surrendering and completely trusting. She was free to say no, God would not have punished her for saying no, but He had given Mary the most amazing gift of freedom from sin, and in her total devotion and obedience to God, it was evident that she would not have said anything but yes.

This yes became the gateway for all of mankind to be saved and redeemed. This yes opened the door for Jesus, God of the universe to become incarnated as man. Jesus was fully man and fully divine, he always maintained his divine nature as the second member of the holy trinity, but he got his human nature from Mary. It was not required that Jesus come into the world this way but it was fitting. If the Lord of the universe is to show us how He intends us to live, what better way than to become man and live a life, showing and teaching us by example.

Mary’s humble little yes, literally changed the universe. Let us all aspire to say yes to God as well, and if we all do this, we too, will indeed change the world. Mary teaches us this lesson of trust, that she recognize the hugeness of God, and her littleness, and even though she didnt understand what God is asking of her, she said yes, and her cooperation with God has brought about the incarnation. The most incredible thing that has ever happened in this world. God, creator of the universe, became a tiny embryo inside Mary ‘s womb. How is that possible, we dont know, God knows, but because Mary cooperated, it happened. So we need to live by Mary’s example, and follow her simple humility, and maybe we too, will be able to also do something truly incredible like she did

So stop today and say “ave maria, gratia plena.” That is her name, and that is who she is to God, and will always be.

Oh maria, please help me and guide me to your son, and help me to be the best possible version of myself, amen.