SALVATION DAWNS ANEW

V/​ I will turn to you O God, 

R/​ to God who gives joy to my youth

V/​ Give me the Wisdom that sits by your throne; 

R/ that I may be counted among your children

Lord, in your all-providential plan, you have led me to this moment to rediscover me in your Word and Wisdom. Aid me to make this time of meditation and prayer enriching, transforming, and liberating for my well-being and others. Amen!

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

25th March 2025

Isaiah 7:10-14, 8:10; Psalm 40(39): 7-11; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38

Look, the young woman is with child, and shall bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. The promise was given around eight centuries before the birth of Christ. Those must have been long 800 years of waiting.

The Israelites kept this promise alive within them by believing that Messiah would come. But how would they know to recognize Him when He finally arrived? We don’t often associate the Feast of the Annunciation with the Dark Night of the Soul, but this poem may give you a slightly different insight.

“The darkest night

The longest, darkest night
Crept over the soul of humanity for centuries.
The Sun set in the garden of Eden and did not rise again
until Mary was greeted by Archangel Gabriel.

The new light dawned
in the silence of Mary’s heart,
in her womb where our salvation starts.

The longest & the darkest night
reflected the patience of the Father waiting for the right time;
All the wrongs done in the past
carved a way for the Saviour to come and write a hopeful story out of many crooked lines.

One Maiden, devout and hidden,
loved God with all her heart, with the very breath of her soul and the strength she carried inside –
and her strength was mighty, for she was the only one who would carry God.

That dark night, longest and loneliest in the history of humankind,
was crowned with an occasional star:
a prophet’s words, a King’s throne being prepared in the city of David,
the promise of God passed on from generation to generation, from heart to heart, and revealed in full to a virgin betrothed to a noble man, both in love with God as they travelled to Bethlehem town.

The longest, darkest night, lasted from the time of Adam
till Mary gave birth to her only Son.”

Take a short moment of silence Pause this and reflect on what you heard What spoke to you the most? What fulfillment of a promise from God are you waiting for? A dark night purifies us not only to receive a promise from God, but to receive God.

Saint John of the Cross wrote about the dark night as an essential part of the journey towards union with God. God sometimes uses the promises He gave us as an opportunity to purify our trust in Him. This loving gesture of God is to bring us closer to becoming people who we were always meant to be.

At the beginning of Luke’s Gospel, we read the account of the angel Gabriel bringing God’s message to Mary when He greeted her, Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Mary was disturbed at this greeting. The angel, however, reassured her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name Him Jesus. Through her holy and devout life, through her own union with God, Mary helps the whole of humanity to embark on this journey towards our own union with God.