Published by The Joyful Mysteries begin with the Annunciation. This story of the beginning of the Incarnation is found in the Bible in Luke 1:26-38. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would bear in her womb our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the son of God, the Father. Gabriel’s greeting to Mary is the beginning of the prayer to the Blessed Mother, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” Mary, of course, was confused by the greeting and how she would bear a child since she has never been and never would be with a man. Gabriel told Mary that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her. Mary agreed to this saying, “Let it be done unto me according to thy word.”
While praying and meditating on this mystery, many things come to mind consistently. The first in my prayer is thanksgiving. I am thankful to God, the Father, that He would send His son to save the world from sin. I am also thankful to Jesus that He followed the will of the Father to be born among us as a man. I am also thankful to the Holy Spirit. Of course, we should be thankful to Mary to agreeing to be the Mother of God. The Blessed Mother was more interested in being obedient to God’s will rather than completely understanding the plan. We should be the same way when God wants us to do something. While we may not understand why God wants us to do something, we should follow His call with faithful obedience first, then worry about understanding if God wants us to understand.
The second most common thought that comes to mind is faith in God. Nothing is impossible with God as Gabriel told Mary when he told her about the pregnancy of her cousin, Elizabeth, who was thought to be sterile. Also, God does not give us anything that we cannot handle as long as we rely on Him to help us through it. Mary, with her abundant faith, knew that the Lord would give her the grace to make it through her life. We should pray to Mary that she will help us have that faith in God that she did to make it through life’s journeys.
