"LET IT BE DONE TO ME ACCORDING TO YOUR WORD"

“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). After visiting the site of the Nativity, we have made our way to Nazareth to encounter the “prequel” to the Lord’s birth. This prequel, however, hinged on the response of a young girl named Mary (Luke 1:27). The Program for Priestly Formation encourages sincere devotion to the Blessed Mother. The Church assumes that her priests will have a deep affection for the woman who, through an act of supreme trust and humility, submitted herself to the Lord’s will. It’s not difficult to see, therefore, the importance of Mary in a priest’s life—a life rightly oriented towards trust and humility.

The Church Fathers properly saw the acts of God in the Old Testament as prefiguring Christ. Is it possible to suggest, however, that all salvation history hinged on the Annunciation? St. Bernard of Clairvaux has a beautiful homily the Church reads in the Divine Office before Christmas. He speaks of all creation “holding its breath” as it anticipates Mary’s response to the Archangel Gabriel. The wisdom of the Prophets, the justice of the Judges, and the power and might of the Kings culminated in the response of a “virgin betrothed to a man names Joseph” (Luke 1:27). Seemingly insignificant, Mary later underscored this fact in her Magnificant, “he has thrown down the mighty from their thrones but lifted up the lowly” (Luke 1:52). The Father has always had a privileged place for the lowly in his salvific work. 

Most of us will spend our lives as parish priests. We will participate in a long line of seemingly insignificant pastors who, because of our commitment to a particular geographical area, will reach a small group of the Lord’s flock. This calling, however, is necessarily a participation in God’s love for his people. The parish priest intimately knows the needs of his sheep. The parish priest truly smells like his sheep, as Pope Francis encourages. A story is told that Pope John XXIII once received a group of priests at the Vatican. The majority of the priests held dignified positions in the curial and seminary systems. One priest, however, was a simple country pastor from the outskirts of Rome. Each priest introduced himself and, as is customary when meeting the Pope, genuflected to reverence his ring. This continued until the country pastor approached the Pope and introduced himself as a simple pastor. Hearing this, Pope John XXIII took the priest’s hands into his hands, genuflected, and commented that the parish priest “had the most important job of all.”

Our commitment to parish priesthood is not necessarily a life of glamor and notoriety. It is safe to assume, however, that God works with the seemingly insignificant. Perhaps an experience with the Lord will hinge on our ministry? It is obvious, therefore, that Mary’s role is more than previously thought. 

Mary, Mother of God and Priests, pray for us who have recourse to thee.