Gospel Reflections 800x800 gold outline

Today's Gospel: Luke 1, 26-38 - The Annunciation of the Lord

I’ll never forget the night I got my very first positive pregnancy test. We had been trying to conceive since our wedding day, so it was certainly a pleasant turn of events. I laid in bed that night, stroking my abdomen, and filled with wonder that there was actually a tiny person inside me. Suddenly, I began to feel scared. I was a mother. Was I ready to be a mother?

There was so much I didn’t know that night. I didn’t know that I would have hyperemesis gravidarum (excessive nausea and/or vomiting which, in my case, lasts for the entire pregnancy). I didn’t know that I would have post-partum depression. But I also didn’t know what incredible moments were in store for me. I didn’t know what it would be like to see my daughter walk for the first time, unsteady on wobbly feet. I didn’t know how small and sweet her little voice would be. I didn’t know the sadness mixed with pride that I would feel when I saw her trot into school for the first time. I couldn’t have imagined how funny, interesting, creative, and caring she would be. On that night when the two faint lines stared back at me, I couldn’t have imagined what God had in store.

Before becoming a mother, I didn’t fully appreciate the Annunciation. I didn’t fully appreciate the courage and trust that Mary showed in giving God her fiat. As scary as a new pregnancy is for any mother, how much more overwhelming must it have been for the Mother of God?

Yet she trusted. She put all the unknowns into God’s hands, and she trusted in his goodness. I pray for the grace that I, especially in my motherhood, may do the same.

Ponder:

What ways do you feel God is calling you to trust him, despite the unknowns?

Pray:

Mary, Mother of God, pray for me that I may trust in God, and in his good and wonderful plan for my life.

 

Copyright 2016 Michele E. Chronister

Michele is a wife and mother to two daughters. She is the author of several books, a freelance writer, a speaker, and a blogger. She also serves on the Council for Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities for the National Catholic Partnership on Disability. You can find her blogging about the ways that faith intersects ordinary life at www.mydomesticmonastery.com.