March 25: When God became man and dwelt among us! The Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary, and announced that she would conceive in her womb, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Mary’s Fiat, her yes, “Be it done to me according to Thy word.” The Incarnation, the Conception of our Lord, the tiny human being, living in the womb of his mother Mary those first nine months.
The Conception of Our Lord was so significant in the history of salvation, the history of humanity, that God sent an angel to announce the event beforehand. That moment of conception when our God became incarnate, became a human being, is indeed so significant that we are all called in Love to prepare our hearts and our mind to embrace the moment, to join with Mary in giving our personal “yes” to God!
We are all called to recognize and embrace our tiny Savior, Emanuel, from his earliest moment of human life. We are called in Love, to recognize and rejoice at the very first beat of His tiny Sacred Heart! We are blessed to see Him… to be pilgrims with Mary and the hidden Jesus for His first nine months, in great anticipation of his birth on Christmas Day!
And so, let the Great Fiat begin!
--- Rev. Mike McLemore, Executive Director – Birmingham Baptist Association
“…The Church lives, grows and awakens within souls, who – like the Virgin Mary – accept the Word of
God and conceive it by the power of the Holy Spirit. They offer to God their own flesh and, in their very
poverty and humility, become capable of giving birth to Christ today in the world.” (February 27, 2013 - 2 weeks after conclusion of Via Gaudéte series)
During this Octave of Easter as the universal Church prepares to celebrate Divine Mercy Sunday on April 15, EWTN host
--- Fr. John Paul Kimes, Maronite Presbyter, Supreme Tribunal – Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith
---Archbishop Joseph Marino, Apostolic Nuncio to Malaysia
--- Sister Mary Michael, P.C.P.A. and all the Nuns (February 2013)