Immersed in Christ: Second Monday of Easter: April 12, 2021

Celebrating Anonymous Annunciations

When Mary "conceived by the Holy Spirit," she became by anticipation the mother of all who would become the body of Christ her Son by being "born of water and Spirit" (John 3:5). God has never stopped inviting people to "present their bodies as a living sacrifice" (Romans 12:2) so that Jesus might be "conceived by the Holy Spirit" in them as his Body spread throughout the whole world. We celebrate this at Mass, saying to the Father, "You never stop gathering a people to yourself, so that from the rising of the sun to its setting, a perfect sacrifice may be offered to your name" (Eucharistic Prayer III).

So, "in the communion of the Holy Spirit," we celebrate together at Eucharist with all who have been invited to the "wedding banquet of the Lamb," whether through the sacramental initiation of Baptism or through the multitudinous anonymous annunciations of baptism by desire. We accept as our brothers and sisters all who "in Christ," and "in the unity of the Holy Spirit,"—consciously or not—have God as their Father and Mary as their mother.

And we do not ask others to accept us as the Body of Christ on earth just because we can wave our baptismal certificate at them. We strive to make the "aroma of Christ" discernible in us through the manifestation of the "Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit" made visible in our life and lifestyle.

ACTION: Read 2Corinthians 2:15, Isaiah 11:2; Galatians 5:22.

PRAYER: Lord, let your Spirit show in me.