The associated reading for this reflection can be found in your Every Sacred Sunday Mass journal or online here.
This month marked the two-year anniversary of the global COVID-19 pandemic. I don’t know about you, but for me, the last two years have been an ongoing litany of the prayer, “How, God?”
First, it was, “How do I stay hopeful as so many lose their jobs and their lives around me?”
Then it was, “How do I remind myself of Your love when I am so isolated?
After a while, it became, “How will I muster the strength to live through another difficult day?”
We have witnessed an enormous amount of upheaval in the last two years alone. There has been illness, death, racial violence, and war. We have been separated from our loved ones and we have missed or delayed important milestones. For many, it’s been hard to sustain the “can do” attitude of the early pandemic days. These days, every step feels like a slow trudge toward a nebulous finish line. Simple things can feel….impossible.
Halfway through Lent, God visits us with a reminder of His Good News. Mary’s observations of what stood between her and the calling she received didn’t keep God’s great plan for humanity from unfolding. He only needed Mary to believe that despite how impossible it seemed, “nothing would be impossible for God.”
When I look around and when I look inside my heart, I see pain and I see sadness. I also see God gently prompting me to look closer, to see the miracle of newness and to believe that I am a part of that. If I follow Mary’s example and surrender myself to God, He will show me the beauty of His love in places I have struggled to see it. What seemed impossible will be that no longer.
Through Mary’s intercession, may we say “yes” to the possibility of God. May we be open to His transformation in whatever form it takes, and may our hearts be grateful for God’s unfailing faithfulness.
Perpetua Charles works as a book publicist in Boston, Massachusetts. She loves the Lord, TV, Disney princesses, books, 90s-00s teen pop, and the color pink. Say hi on Instagram!