I can remember cherished moments as a child turning the living room lights low on Christmas eve and sitting with a cup of hot chocolate before the nativity scene so carefully arranged on the logs in the fireplace. Tiny Christmas lights twinkled in the straw that surrounded the figurines: Mary and Joseph, shepherds and kings, sheep and donkeys and cattle. I loved singing Christmas carols on that blessed evening, uniting myself in spirit to the angels who announced the birth of Christ to the shepherds over 2000 years ago. It was a magical moment for a child.
Over fifty years later, magical moments of singing carols at our family’s creche at Christmas have been replaced with the deeply meaningful and mystical times spent in stillness before the burning presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Here is no figurine, no nativity display that once a year captivates our hearts and reminds us of the birth of Christ. In the Blessed Sacrament Jesus is truly present, body, blood, soul, and divinity. Jesus is real. Jesus is here. Right now. Today. A statue of the infant Jesus in a manger reminds us of something that happened 2000 years ago. The Eucharist lets us enter into that reality with our entire being right now, and participate in the salvation Jesus is bringing about on this earth today. We can bring Jesus our desires, tell him of our struggles and need for healing, beg him to teach us to pray as did the apostles, and commit ourselves body and soul to his service.
In the Gospel account of the Annunciation we learn three very important lessons from the Virgin of the Annunciation that model for us how to receive and adore Jesus in the Eucharist.
- God is living and real. God loves you. God speaks to you. God has something to say to you. God cares about what is happening to you and has a plan for your healing and salvation. Each of us has our own unique role to play in the mystery of salvation.
- The Father has sent his Son as Savior of the world. In the Nicene Creed we confess: “For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man.” God sent his Son to save us by reconciling us with himself, taking away our sins. In this instant, the Eternal Word leapt down from heaven and he whom the whole world could not contain enclosed himself in the womb of his Virgin Mother. The Word became flesh in the womb of Mary that we might know God’s love and that he might make us “partakers of the divine nature” (2 Pt 1:4.)
- Mary models for us how to be still and silent before the presence of God. The Virgin of the Annunciation shows us how to listen and respond with obedient faith, committing to God, as she did, our whole being, body and soul. “Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” I often think of the moment right after the angel left Mary. It was the first instant of Jesus’ life within her womb. How she must have quietly loved him and adored him. What faith it must have required of her. She knew better than most the utter reality of God’s presence.
Mary, the Virgin of the Annunciation is also known under the title Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. The flesh of Jesus that was crucified, raised up in glory by the Father, the flesh that Jesus gave us at the Last Supper and continues to give us sacramentally in the Eucharist is the very flesh that he received from the Virgin Mary on the day she said her Fiat to the angel. In our reception of the Eucharist in holy Communion and in Eucharistic adoration, the Virgin of the Annunciation models for us faith, adoration, and loving surrender. As Jesus’ Mother she calls us to unite ourselves sacramentally to her Son as often as we can. As Jesus’ Mother she calls us to the silent and still presence of God that burns in our Eucharistic Chapels. This Christmas, as we are drawn into the wonder of Christ’s birth and our hearts are warmed by the figurines of our nativities, as well they should be, let us resolve to warm ourselves from now on at the fire of the Eucharist, Jesus truly present in our churches.
Mary was the first tabernacle of God. She adored him in her womb for the nine months before his birth, a secret prayer of loving worship. May the Virgin Mother of the Savior teach us how to become tabernacles of God. After receiving Jesus in Communion may we, as did Mary, carry him into the world. In the words of Saint John Paul II, “Let our adoration never cease.”
“O Mary, model of loving souls and fervent adorers, I ask you for three precious graces: to know the God hidden in the Tabernacle; to seek his presence, in holy intimacy; to live habitually with my heart turned to him. Amen” (Blessed James Alberione, SSP).
Praying with this Passage of Scripture
Lectio Divina is a way of listening to God as he speaks in his Word. It is a practice of communicating with God through Scripture and attending to God’s presence and what he wishes to tell us. In this slow and prayerful reading of the Word of God, we allow ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit who forms us into the image of Christ. There are four movements in Lectio Divina: Read (lectio), Meditate (meditation), Pray (oratio), Contemplate (contemplation).
Begin by finding a still space to pray. Breathe deeply and become quieter within. Abandon any agenda, worries or thoughts you bring to this prayer and entrust these things to the merciful care of God. Ask for the grace to be receptive to what God will speak to you through this Scripture reading. Grant me, Jesus Divine Master, to be able to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God and your unfathomable riches. Grant that your word penetrate my soul; guide my steps, and brighten my way till the day dawns and darkness dissipates, you who live and reign forever and ever Ame
Read (lectio)
Begin by slowly and meditatively reading your Scripture passage out loud. Listen for a particular word or phrase that speaks to you at this moment and sit with it for a time.
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.
Meditate (meditatio)
Read the same passage a second time. As you re-engage the text, let the word or phrase that stood out become your invitation to speak from your heart with God who wishes to share his heart with you. Allow this word or phrase to wash over you and permeate your thoughts and feelings. You may wish to repeat this phrase quietly and gently for a period of time
Pray (oratio)
Read the text a third time. Listen for what God is saying to you. Speak heart to heart with God. Notice the feelings that this conversation with God raises up within you. Share with God what you notice about your response to this conversation. You may wish to return to repeating the phrase quietly and gently, allowing it to permeate you more and more deeply.
Contemplate (contemplatio)
Read the text a final time. Now be still and rest in God’s embrace. Ask God to give you a gift to take with you from this prayer. You might ask God if he is inviting you to do some action, for instance, make some change in your thoughts, attitudes or reactions, in the way you speak or how you treat others. Thank God for this gift and invitation as you conclude your prayer.
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Touching the Sunrise 
Merry Christmas Sr. Kathryn,
Thank you so very much for sharing your childhood memories and experience. I know how wonderful you felt as I too had loving parents who taught me Love.
Most of all, Thank You being such an inspiration to me in the Way of Our Lord.
I Love Us All…Thanks Again,
Richard Eisele
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