• Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province

The Love that Compels

  • Migration
    • Statement from Passionist Leadership Regarding Current United States Immigration Policies
    • The Global Migration Crisis: What Can a Retreat Center Do?
  • Laudato Si’
    • Laudato Si’ 2023-24 Report and 2024-25 Plan
    • Ways to Live Laudato Siˊ
    • Sustainable Purchasing
      • Sustainable Purchasing Guide
      • Hints for Sustainable Meetings and Events
      • Sustainable Living Hints
    • Passion of the Earth, Wisdom of the Cross
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Celebrating the Season of Creation
  • Pray
    • Daily Reflections
    • Prayer Request
    • Sunday Homily
    • Passionist Spirituality and Prayer
    • Video: Stations of the Cross
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
  • Grow
    • Proclaiming Our Passionist Story (POPS)
    • The Passionist Way
    • Retreat Centers
    • Passionist Magazine
    • Passionist Ministries
      • Preaching
      • Hispanic Ministry
      • Parish Life
      • Earth and Spirit Center
      • Education
      • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Solidarity Network
    • Journey into the Mystery of Christ Crucified
    • Celebrating the Feast of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Subscribe to E-News
    • Sacred Heart Monastery
      • History of Sacred Heart Monastery
      • A Day in the Life of Senior Passionists
      • “Pillars” of the Community
  • Join
    • Come and See Holy Week Discernment Retreat
    • Are You Being Called?
    • Province Leadership
    • Vocation Resources
    • Passionist Brothers
    • The Life of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Discerning Your Call
    • Pray With Us
    • Passionist Vocation Directors
    • World Day for Consecrated Life
    • Lay Partnerships
  • Connect
    • Find a Passionist
    • Passionist Websites
    • Fr. Cedric Pisegna, CP, Live with Passion!
    • Passionist Alumni Association
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Monthly Giving
      • St. Gemma Circle of Giving Intentions
    • Leave a Legacy
      • Giving Matters
      • Ways to Give
      • Donor Relations
      • Testimonials
    • Prayer and Seasonal Cards
    • Privacy Policy Statement
  • Learn
    • Our Passionist History: Webinar Series
    • Proclaiming Our Passionist Story (POPS)
    • Our Founder
    • History
    • The Letters of St. Paul of the Cross
    • The Diary of St. Paul of the Cross
    • Mission and Charism
    • Saints and Blesseds
    • FAQs
    • Find a Passionist
    • STUDIES IN PASSIONIST HISTORY AND SPIRITUALITY
  • Safe Environments

Daily Scripture, March 25, 2021

Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Scripture:

Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10
Hebrews 10:4-10
Luke 1:26-38

Reflection:

When I picture the Annunciation, I often imagine the scene through Mary’s eyes—a young woman, betrothed, soon to leave all that she has known as a girl to begin a new life with Joseph.  In the culture of the ancient Mediterranean world, she would likely never yet have been alone with a man outside her family.  Her marriage would probably have been arranged by her parents, with the intention of joining and strengthening two families rather than the more romantic view we have today of joining two people. I imagine her a young woman on the cusp of transformation from girlhood to womanhood, from daughter to wife–both excited and nervous as she prepares to step into the unknown world of marriage and its many levels of intimacy and expectation around honor and shame dictated by her culture.

Enter the angel Gabriel!  And it’s a good thing he begins with affirming that the Lord is with her and telling her “Do not be afraid” because he is about to announce the most shameful and feared thing that could happen to a young woman of her day: to conceive a child out of wedlock.  Her family would be shamed, and Mary herself would be at risk of death. 

We’re often quick to move on to Mary’s profession of faith: “May it be done to me according to your word.”  But I invite us to take a moment and rest in Mary’s confusion, in what must have been a moment of collision between what her culture had taught her and what God was asking. The cognitive dissonance seems palpable. I imagine Mary struggling to try to make sense of it in the cultural framework she had known her whole life.

But God, through Gabriel, was shattering that framework.  New life was springing from barren wombs. Nothing is impossible with God.

So I wonder, when I see all that is happening in the world: our struggles with racism, with economic inequality, with people being displaced by fire, drought and rising waters, whether we’re being invited to struggle with that same cognitive dissonance. 

Our culture too often teaches us that more is better, that there isn’t enough for all of us, that we should fear people who are different from us, that creation is something to be consumed, and—most painfully—it holds systemic sins like racism.  But God invites us to be part of a different story, the story of “God with us,” with us all.

According to a CBS news poll, nearly 8 in 10 Americans believe in angels.  A “year-round presence” they say.  I wonder if some may indeed look like George Floyd—angels who wake us up and remind us: “Do not be afraid.” We too are being asked to be part of this great birthing process, to bring to life what God has conceived in each of us, and all of us as the people of God. 

Sometimes it feels like a path to certain death of all that I—we—have known, even of ourselves—as it must have for Mary.  Yet isn’t this what the Paschal Mystery is all about?

Lissa Romell is the Administrator at St. Vincent Strambi Community in Chicago, Illinois.

Footer

Support the Passionists

Contact the Passionists

Name

The Passionists of Holy Cross Province
660 Busse Highway | Park Ridge, IL 60068
Tel: 847.518.8844 | Toll-free: 800.295.9048 | Fax: 847.518.0461
Safe Environments | Board Member Portal | Copyright © 2025 | Log in