December 8

"Hail, full of grace. What do these words mean? The Evangelist Luke writes that Mary (Miriam), at these words spoken by the Angel, "was greatly troubled..., and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be" (Lk 1:29). These words express a singular election. Grace means a particular fullness of creation through which the being, who resembles God, participates in God's own interior life. Grace means love and the gift of God himself, the completely free gift ("given gratuitously") in which God entrusts to man his Mystery, giving him, at the same time, the capacity of being able to bear witness to the Mystery, of filling with it his human being, his life, his thoughts, his will and his heart."

-Pope St. John Paul II

Today's Reflection:

How is God calling you to bear witness to His Mystery? How is our perfect Mother the example for us of one who participated in God's own interior life?