Feast of the Annunciation
Song of Songs 2: 8-14

NOTICE:  There are 275 shopping days until Christmas! Yes, nine months from today’s feast of the Annunciation, we will again rejoice in the birth of our Savior.  So how do we celebrate this feast in the midst of Lent?   With rejoicing and wonder at the gift of the Incarnation!  Lent reminds us of the journey Jesus took to Calvary for our sake, – a gift of pure love.  That gift began when Mary said, “Yes!”  Certainly today’s canticle could have been in Mary’s heart as the angel spoke God’s words to her:  “My lover speaks and says to me, “Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one, and come!  For see the winter is past, the rains are over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of pruning the vine has come, and the song of the dove is heard in our land.”  As we prepare for the great days of the triduum and for the profound gift of Easter, may these joyful words of invitation and promise echo in our hearts.