Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

Annunciation Of Our Lord
March 25

(Note: When March 25 falls during Holy Week, the Feast of the Annunciation is moved.  For the year 2013 the feast day is April 8.  For the year 2016 the feast day is April 4.) 

Today is the Solemnity of the Conception of Jesus, also known as the Annunciation when Mary said “yes” to the Lord’s will for her life.  At that moment, by the power of the Holy Spirit the Incarnate God, Jesus, was conceived in the womb of His mother Mary. 


For the next nine months Jesus grew as do all human persons, through the different stages of fetal development.  Not only does science tell us that life begins at conception but the solemnity of the Annunciation is one way in which the Church expresses that life begins at conception.  In many places around the world today is also being celebrated as the International Day of the Unborn Child.


Lord instill in us the sense of the sacredness of every human life so that we will be inspired to care and protect the most venerable:  women who are pregnant, their unborn children, the sick and the elderly. 

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Art

Annunciation - Rogier van der Weyden

Second Sunday of Lent - The Transfiguration

The Second Sunday of Lent

The Transfiguration
March 20, 2011
March 16, 2014
March 12, 2017
March 5, 2023

Why did God make us? Those who remember the Baltimore Catechism will quickly respond, “God made us to know, love and serve Him and to be happy with Him forever in heaven.” So our ultimate destination is Heaven.

This Sunday, the second of our Lenten journey, we hear the Gospel of Matthew 17:1-9 (Luke 9:28-36, Mark 9:2-10), the Transfiguration of Our Lord. “Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them; his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light....a bright cloud cast a shadow over them, then from the cloud came a voice that said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him."” (Matthew 17:1-2, 17:5)

As a Catholic, we believe that if we remain faithful, what happened to Jesus in the Transfiguration will happen to us one day. In heaven our bodies will be transformed, the Father will call us beloved in whom He is well pleased, and we will hear the wonderful words, “Well done my good and faithful servant…Come, share your master’s joy.” (Matthew 25:23)

Why did God make us? What is the meaning of our life? What is the loving plan of the Father for each of us? Today is the Lord’s Day, a good time to pray, contemplate these questions and "listen to Him." (Matthew 17:5)


 

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Art

Transfiguration – Lorenzo Lotto