WEBVTT 00:00:01.520 --> 00:00:07.519 As I mentioned at the beginning of Mass today, the church celebrates the Annunciation of the Lord. 00:00:07.759 --> 00:00:11.039 And there's a phrase that runs through all three readings today. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:13.679 If you catch it, you'll understand everything. 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:18.719 If you reduce it, you reduce the solemnity to a nice moment in history. 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:22.239 But the phrase is this God is with us. 00:00:22.960 --> 00:00:27.440 In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah speaks to a king who is afraid. 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:32.799 Ahaz is facing uncertainty, pressure, fear about the future. 00:00:33.039 --> 00:00:35.679 And God says, Ask for a sign. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:38.000 In other words, trust me. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:39.920 And what does Ahaz do? 00:00:40.079 --> 00:00:41.280 Well, he refuses. 00:00:41.679 --> 00:00:45.520 Not because he's holy, but because he doesn't actually want to trust. 00:00:45.679 --> 00:00:46.880 And that's important. 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:51.439 Because sometimes we disguise fear as humility. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:53.359 I don't want to test God. 00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:56.640 But the truth is we don't want to surrender. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:00:59.840 So God gives the sign anyway. 00:01:00.240 --> 00:01:03.920 The virgin shall conceive and bear a son, Emmanuel. 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:05.519 God is with us. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:10.879 Not distant, not abstract, not an idea, but actually with us. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:14.799 Now, if we go to the second reading, it tells us how. 00:01:15.519 --> 00:01:20.560 Not through rituals, not through external sacrifices, but through a person. 00:01:21.280 --> 00:01:24.959 Christ says, Behold, I come to do your will. 00:01:25.920 --> 00:01:28.159 This is the heart of the incarnation. 00:01:28.400 --> 00:01:34.879 Not just that God comes into the world, but that he comes in obedience, in total surrender to the Father. 00:01:35.200 --> 00:01:42.400 And then we arrive at the gospel, and everything becomes very quiet, very personal, very human. 00:01:42.879 --> 00:01:48.319 A young woman, no power, no status, no control over what's about to happen. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:53.439 And God comes to her, not with a command, but with an invitation. 00:01:54.000 --> 00:01:57.920 And Mary asks the question we should all be asking. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:01:59.599 How can this be? 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.480 Then comes a line that defines the entire solemnity. 00:02:04.799 --> 00:02:07.280 Nothing will be impossible for God. 00:02:08.159 --> 00:02:09.280 But here's the key. 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:10.639 Don't miss this. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:17.199 The miracle of the incarnation does not begin with God's power, it begins with Mary's response. 00:02:18.400 --> 00:02:22.560 How beautiful how she says, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:25.520 Be it done to me according to your word. 00:02:26.159 --> 00:02:28.479 That's the moment everything changes. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:34.400 Not when the angel speaks, not when the promise is made, but when she says yes. 00:02:35.199 --> 00:02:36.560 And here's the teaching. 00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:38.960 This is what this solemnity is about. 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:40.719 God is with us. 00:02:41.120 --> 00:02:43.439 But he does not force himself on us. 00:02:43.680 --> 00:02:46.879 He enters the world, but he waits for a response. 00:02:47.199 --> 00:02:50.800 God has a plan, but he invites cooperation. 00:02:51.439 --> 00:02:56.000 And that means this the annunciation is not just about Mary, it's about you. 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:01.199 Because every day, whether you realize it or not, God speaks in your life. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:06.240 Not always dramatically, not always clearly, but consistently. 00:03:06.479 --> 00:03:09.599 And the question is always the same will you trust me? 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:12.240 Will you let me work in your life? 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:16.479 Will you do my will, even when you don't fully understand it? 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:20.319 And most of the time we respond like Ahaz. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:22.960 We hesitate, we resist, we delay. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:30.719 But holiness looks like Mary, not perfection, not having all the answers, complete and total surrender. 00:03:31.360 --> 00:03:33.360 Now here's where it becomes real. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:36.719 Because we all like the idea that God is with us. 00:03:36.800 --> 00:03:38.960 It's comforting, it's beautiful. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:41.360 But it's also demanding. 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:47.199 Because if God is truly with you, then your life cannot stay the same. 00:03:47.520 --> 00:03:58.000 If God is with you, your priorities begin to shift, your decisions begin to change, your relationships begin to be purified, your sin can no longer be justified. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:01.840 Because God is not just present, he is active. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:06.400 So the question today is not, do I believe that God is with me? 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:07.919 Most of you would say yes. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:09.680 Oh, yes, God's with me. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.639 The real question is, am I with him? 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:14.800 Am I open to his will? 00:04:14.960 --> 00:04:17.759 Am I willing to say yes even when it's inconvenient? 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:22.000 Am I allowing him to work in my life or just keeping him at a distance? 00:04:22.160 --> 00:04:25.199 Am I trusting the plan that God has for me? 00:04:25.759 --> 00:04:31.759 Because the difference between Ahaz and Mary is not knowledge, it's not intelligence, it's not even holiness. 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:34.160 It's complete and total trust. 00:04:34.720 --> 00:04:37.199 And that's what God is asking of you today. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:42.000 Not something dramatic, not something impossible, a real yes. 00:04:42.399 --> 00:04:50.079 A yes in your daily life, a yes in your struggles, to be able to wake up every single morning and say, Yes, Lord, I love you. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:51.839 Yes, Lord. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:55.439 I want to say yes in those areas that I've been avoiding. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:05:00.000 Because here's the thing when you say yes to God, something always happens. 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:01.920 Something new begins. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:04.319 You may not see it immediately. 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:08.800 Mary didn't, but God was already at work. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:16.160 So today, don't just celebrate the Annunciation, enter into it and make it her words your own. 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:18.800 Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.680 Let it be done to me according to your word. 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:36.160 And if you can say that and really truly mean it, then this solemnity is not no longer just something you remember, it's something that you it becomes who you are, becomes something you live. 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.319 You're able to incarnate it. 00:05:38.639 --> 00:05:39.279 Amen.