The Feast of the Annunciation

This last Saturday, on the Feast of the Annunciation, I was in Winnipeg at my sponsoring parish. We heard the deacon proclaim these words spoken to Mary by Gabriel:

‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you . . .'

Fitting words for an ordination, when we ask for the Holy Spirit to descend upon a person and to fill her with "grace and power."

Mary's ministry was to bear God, the person Jesus, our Saviour, and to bring him into the world. The deacon's ministry is not terribly different; the deacon also carries the word into the world. And by God's grace and power, this word gathers the world into the church through the ministry of the deacon.

Mary's response is the response that God hopes to hear from us all: ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Only one of us was chosen to be the Godbearer, but God calls us all, some as priests and bishops, some to the many and diverse un-ordered ministries. And this last Saturday, the church and the bishop called my mom into the ministry of the diaconate. We said 'amen,' and so did she.

This is my prayer for you, mom: may your response to this call be ‘here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ The word is not the same as the messenger; say yes to the word borne by the messenger, and to the one from whom the message comes.

I'm proud of you.