S4, E2 - The Annunciation Bible Study (Luke 1: 26-38)

The mission of the Ponder and Magnify Podcast is to seek an encounter with Jesus through praying the rosary, relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary. Join us as we dive into the First Joyful Mystery of the Rosary! In this episode, Jess, John, and Fr. Hecktor discuss the account of the Annunciation from Luke 1: 26-38. May we all be in Heaven one day! Praise be to God!

Transcript

Jessica: 0:04

Hello, and welcome to the Ponder and Magnify podcast, where our mission is to seek an encounter with Jesus through praying the rosary, relying on the grace of the Holy Spirit and the intercession of Mary. I am so happy that you are here. Welcome everyone. On this episode, we're going to be discussing the First Joyful Mystery, the Annunciation. We are joined here again by Father Hector. We are so lucky. And of course, I've got John with me. And we're just excited to dive in here and meditate and pray with this with this mystery. Father Hector, would you mind opening us up in prayer?

Fr. Hecktor: 0:42

Very glad to. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Lord, we ask you to send your Holy Spirit upon us to guide us, strengthen us in all that we do. Help us, Lord, especially to be open to your will. We thank you, Lord, for our blessed Mother Mary, who was so willing to open herself up to be uh the vessel through whom our the Savior of the world would come into our lives to give us uh salvation from our sins and strength and courage. We thank you, Lord, for her yes to you. And we ask you to help us always turn to you with openness and joy. We make these prayers through Christ our Lord. Amen. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, amen.

Jessica: 1:24

Thank you so much, Father. All right, Johnny, kicking it to you first. What are you feeling thankful for tonight?

John: 1:31

I am feeling thankful for snow. We had a kind of a a pre-December snowfall today, you know, an inch or two. And it was a wet snow, so it was very easy to build a snowman. So it was fun getting out there with the girls today and building a snowman. Because I think last time it was pretty disappointing. We got out there and the girls were like, all right, you know, let's build something, and it just that the snow would like crumble in their hands. So it was good to get out there and play in it today. Father Hector, you got anything?

Fr. Hecktor: 2:08

Yeah, uh talking about snowman, now that you mentioned that , the picture you showed me earlier was pretty awesome because there was no leaves or twigs or anything in your snowman. It was a very clean snowman. Usually when you roll it up, there's all that that stuff that gets stuck in the snowman and it's a very dirty snowman, but yours is a very nice snowman.

John: 2:24

It's an art.

Fr. Hecktor: 2:25

You did a fine job of it. And then draping it in the parachute was fantastic too. I'm very grateful I had a nice drive on Thanksgiving Day. Love driving, love the the road, I love hiking, and I did some hikes, and then I topped it off seeing my mom and dad that evening. I got to see my the rest of the family last Sunday. I'm very grateful for family time and grateful today, despite the snow, people showed up for Mass, and we had uh a wonderful celebration of the Mass this morning on Saturday morning, and that was very nice. And we got a lot of other things done, such as preparing for the Advent season. Jessica, how are you doing?

Jessica: 3:07

I am doing good, and I am feeling particularly thankful for a word from Scripture that has just been on my heart. I think it was a few days ago in the responsorial psalm. I'm gonna actually say probably more like last week, Psalm 23, there was a line: "You anoint my head with oil, my cup overflows." And this line really pierced my heart because I realized that in the sleep deprivation and transition and everything that's going on in our household, I was really kind of operating from a lack mentality. I'm gonna just call it that, and just really like kind of getting negative and trying to fight through the negativity. And when I read that Scripture, it just was a reminder that my cup is abundantly overflowing at all times. And to have gratitude is not just to list out the things you're thankful for, but to really live into seeing, to looking around and seeing the abundance. And I felt like I really needed that in my heart. And I've been so much more positive and uplifted and just feeling so much better, really looking at life with an abundance mentality, anticipating my cup is overflowing. So even those moments um that are a little bit tougher just feeling feeling good with it with a new perspective with that. So I'm really thankful for that and the way that the Lord talks to us through Scripture. Father Hector, speaking of Scripture, would you proclaim our Scripture for this mystery of the Annunciation?

Fr. Hecktor: 4:36

This is a reading from the Gospel of Luke. In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin, betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her he said, Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at what was said, and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. But Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no relations with a man? And the angel said to her and reply, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren, for nothing will be impossible for God. Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. Then the angel departed from her.

Jessica: 6:09

After pausing the recording and taking some time to reflect and pray, John, what stuck out to you here?

John: 6:16

So I think I said this in the episode last week, but what's really interesting to me is or kind of the nugget of the mystery is not just the yes now, but all the yeses that follow. Mary gets this angel that comes and says, Hey, you're gonna have a son, and you know, this promise. If I'm Mary, I'm thinking the the red carpet's just gonna get rolled out for me the rest of the way, that life's gonna be really easy and there's not gonna be any challenges like because I said yes. Um but as we know, that's not that's not how it played out. Mary she obviously had the the strength to to mean her her first yes and just and stick to it. But that's just kind of what really sticks out to me that you know I admire from Mary in this. But then I've got a question, Father Hector. I don't know this, there may not be any significance to it. Do you is there any significance of Gabriel going? I was just curious in that like this sets everything in motion. Do you send your most trusted messenger? And there may not be any significance to it, but uh I just had that thought. I was like, why why Gabriel?

Fr. Hecktor: 7:34

Well, I yeah, I couldn't certainly couldn't tell you why God don't does what he does, but Gabriel refers to the power of God. You know he's a messenger, he's an archangel. And uh yeah, he certainly was a trusted spirit to to bring that the news of salvation to Mary and to the entire world. So in announcing that, each of the archangels they have their, I guess, mission or or you know, God's remedy, or he who is like God. Th ey each have that mission, I guess, assigned by God. And and that was his mission. God chose him to do that. You know, the the power of God being displayed by this paradoxic, this condescension of God coming into our time and space, the power of God being displayed through coming to us, announcing that he would be among us. You know, what an amazing thing. That's how God relates to us. Humbling, condescending, coming to be on our level, coming down to us. Uh, and so the name of it kind of envelops all of this.

Jessica: 8:36

That's beautiful. John, something that you were saying too reminded me of what we talked about in our first episode, and just how each of these mysteries, though we call them the joyful mysteries, they all have an element of suffering. One thing that was really occurring to me while I was praying on this is she said yes to the Lord and being the mother of the Lord, but she also said yes to like a complete poverty in a way, like a poverty of control. And to me, that's something that's very difficult. To me, it's like a sense of security if I can feel like I'm in control, but of course, that's a false sense of security. But just being so resigned to let the Father's will kind of dictate her life. And I think it's interesting too, because you were kind of crediting it to Mary, which of course Mary is so amazing. But to me, like the Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. To me, it's like it was not by Mary's own strength that she said yes. I like to imagine that, you know, she's afraid, she's troubled, and then it's like, hold up, the Holy Spirit's gonna be with you, gonna overshadow you. You're not doing this alone. And I just imagine her being like, okay, then yes. So the strength of her yes and her continual yes to me comes from that overshadowing of the Holy Spirit and like that spousal relationship that she has with the Holy Spirit. So I think it's a cool way, you know, everything in Mary always points to the glory of God. So I don't know, it just was making me think about that when you said that.

Fr. Hecktor: 10:08

That's a great thing to bring up. And I like what you said. Her yes, that wasn't this, this is the initial yes she said to God. She did that countless times throughout the life of Jesus after he was born, all the way up until the the cross. It it wasn't just one time and then everything was smooth sailing after that. She cooperated with God. She demonstrated her cooperation with God over and over again throughout the life of Jesus, her son. And what a wonderful example for us. When I went to the seminary, I thought when I said yes, I'll go to the seminary, I thought everything would be smooth sailing after that. And it was not. It's a challenge, you know, it's always a challenge. Marriage, I'm sure you guys can tell me that too. the challenge when you said yes to each other, the challenge has just begun then, and you have to recommit yourselves to each other, you have to recommit yourselves to your faith. And Mary, what a wonderful example that she said yes this time, but that was just the first yes of many. That was a lot, there's a lot of follow-up cooperation with God that's required of her and all of us Christians. Yeah. I liked um, for whatever reason this stood out to me: of his kingdom, there will be no end. I don't know, maybe because I'm getting older or something, like there's some kind of you know, I had a couple funerals this week, and you think about the our mortality and the the finiteness of this life, and you're you're you start searching for something that is not going to end and something that's not going to lead to sadness. And so that's very encouraging that that God came to be with us to demonstrate to us, He came down to our level, to this finite level that we have, this time and space that we're in that's so contained in order to show us then later that there with the resurrection there would be no end to his kingdom. What an amazing thing that we're living in this time and space and we're living in this this way right now, but it leads to something greater if we faithfully follow him. Of his kingdom, there will be no end. So even though there can be sometimes sadness and grief in this life, it's okay. It will be okay. And that's a big part of our faith is trusting in that, recommitting to our faith and trust in God that even though there is sadness and grief and hardship and loss, there's something better to come. This isn't all there is. There's something better to come. And we trust in that. We have faith in that.

Jessica: 12:36

There was a book I read by C.S. Lewis one time, and he wrote about how the Incarnation, he compared it to like if a human being was invited to become a slug. And to me, that really put it into perspective. And there it is too, Jesus suffering already from the moment of this Annunciation moment when he enters into Mary's womb. He's going, you know, like you're saying, Father, from this eternity. Like we're all longing to get to eternity. And Jesus left eternity to come into space, time to be so limited. It's so wild. And I just that eternal perspective of this kingdom to come, it really is a different way of living when when you're thinking about everything in relation to that for sure.

Fr. Hecktor: 13:27

And I forget that sometimes because you just get so wrapped up in day-to-day things, what we hear what we see around us, what we can experience around us with our five senses. We get so wrapped up in that and we tend to forget it. So, this is what a great reminder. A kingdom that will not end. That's the hope we have as Christians. A kingdom that will not end, a kingdom to which we are invited if we accept it, if we say yes over and over again throughout our Christian lives.

Jessica: 13:55

It reminds me of the gospel of today and what that first part that really stuck out to me, which was like to be ready when the Lord is coming. And it's like, don't let yourself be, I can't remember the exact wording, but like choked by the anxieties of daily life. I was like, oh, that's me. That is my I so easily fall into exactly what you're saying, Father. Yeah.

Fr. Hecktor: 14:12

We all do, yeah. I'd say so, yeah.

Jessica: 14:15

What stuck out to me was Mary's line, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. And just the surrender to the Lord in that. She already clearly had a relationship of deep trust with the Lord at this moment. This was not a conversion moment or the first time that they were speaking. She's able to say, Let it be done to me according to your word, because I trust that your word is for my life, for my eternal good, and is directing everything from there. And I think sometimes in life when I am struggling with trusting God, I try to like will myself into it more. And I don't, that is not never successful for me. For me, it's a return to Scripture and understanding the character of God and who He is and how He operates, and seeing that and how he's revealed his heart through Jesus. Jesus to me is just the total revelation of the heart of the Father and just seeing how he continually is revealing that he is trustworthy and that he is leading all things to our good. And I just feel like Mary already perceived that and was able to say yes because of that. And I think it's interesting just her spirit of acceptance. You know, sometimes we pray for something and we get exactly what we pray for. And then it's really easy to have a spirit of acceptance. Other times we pray for something and we might, we might get something totally different. I mean, I don't know, but I like to imagine that Mary didn't know this was what God was going to be calling her to. So to me, it's like in that second category. It's not like, oh great, this is exactly what I was praying for. I'm pregnant and now I have to go tell Joseph. Now I have to go tell my parents. I mean, imagine like the moment that angel left. I'm sure it was joy, but it was also like, oh, okay, you know, there's a lot of struggles in this road ahead at the same time.

Fr. Hecktor: 16:09

The realization of that, yeah, that this joy that God is going to be with you, but then what does that mean? That means you have to continue cooperating with him and working along with him. And there's a lot of anxiety and worry and challenge in that.

Jessica: 16:21

Yeah. And I feel like when we take on that suffering, because in all of our vocations or all of the small ways that God is calling us daily, it always entails a suffering. And that's like an even greater yes to the Lord persisting through that suffering. It's an opportunity to cooperate with the Holy Spirit and really show that. And I don't know, I just was really thinking about her spirit of acceptance in all these different ways, you know, whether it's something we prayed for, something God gave us that's better that we can imagine, or also in situations where we've received something that God never intended for us, like some sort of evil or some um something resulting from our own sin or sin done upon us that God never intended. And even just in those situations, too, the posture of the Father is just suffering with us. And um yeah, just the spirit of acceptance that comes with a total trust in the Lord really stuck out to me and just my desire to emulate Mary more in that way. And that of course requires like a deeper communion for me with the Holy Spirit and just a reflection on the character of God and that sort of thing. So that was kind of what stuck out to me. John, father, anything left to add?

Fr. Hecktor: 17:38

No, we said it all. We covered it all.

Jessica: 17:41

The mystery's been solved. No, hardly.

John: 17:47

Your homilies uh in the future on this can you can say just listen to the podcast.

Fr. Hecktor: 17:52

So I'll start my homily. So I was with these two crazy.

Jessica: 17:57

Yes, that would be accurate. Oh goodness. Okay. Well, thank you, Holy Spirit, for a beautiful conversation. Thank you, God, for this event that transpired and the fact that it continues to bear fruit for us. And we just pray for us and for all of our listeners that all the graces flowing from this mystery for the ability to claim them and for them to transform our lives. And so we just say thank you, God. And we promise to be praying for you. We ask you to please pray for us. May we all be in heaven together one day. Praise be to God.