To Jesus Though Mary

The Solemnity of the Annunciation is an especially Marist Feast, for Jesus comes to us through Mary, and we go to him through her.  Without her, there would be no Jesus.  Without Jesus there would be no reconciliation with the Father nor with one another. As simple but as powerful as the story is told by Luke, (1:26-38), the Son of God takes flesh and lives among us, drawing us to himself and battering down the fences that divide us from one another.  As Marists, our work is to make this Jesus known and loved, to continue his mission of reconciliation, mercy and forgiveness.  May we take inspiration from Mary's openness to receive God's Gift of Jesus and the graces that will help us to love one another as he loved us.  Keeping it simple, it might be just to pat others on the back for their good deeds, to make amends with those with whom we've experienced estrangement, or to go to the sacrament of reconciliation before Lent is over and encourage others to do so.
Bro. Rene