About a month ago, Russ, Anthony, and I attended mass with my parents. We were challenged to read, pray, and absorb Matthew Chapters 5 through 7. The challenge was so motivating that I will never forget the location of the Sermon on the Mount in the Bible. “57” is a memorable number. On that very same day, we were matched with expectant parents to adopt their baby girl, Gabriella. It was surreal that after years of infertility, we were matched to adopt a baby a short month after our home study was approved. We were overjoyed, and over the next month I read those chapters over and over in adoration.
“Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span?”
"Do not worry about your life"
"Your heavenly father knows that you need"
I spent considerable time meditating, praying for contrition for my anxious heart and giving thanks that God was blessing us after our long cross with infertility. The signs and blessings kept coming. Gabriella's due date was March 25, the feast of the Annunciation. Gabriella. On the Annunciation. Certainly, this was a nod from God, our own "announcement" of sorts.
Unfortunately, the sign did not hold the meaning that I thought. Russ and I learned this week that Gabriella was never meant to be ours, and grief came back in floods. Dreams of a beautiful frilly Easter basket and a Divine Mercy Sunday Baptism evaporated. But then, I woke up to the Gospel message that I had already read so many times. Don’t worry. Trust God. God cares for you. Matthew "57." Again, a homily was proclaimed that I desperately needed to hear, and it sunk in deep. Images of placing my sufferings in the chalice and sitting with my anxieties at the foot of the cross filled my mind, and I pondered what it was that God was asking us to do. Images of drawing close to our Lord made the Eucharist that morning something it hadn't been for me before. Surely, being called into deeper relationship is the start of God's purpose in this situation. And, I can only imagine that our fleeting interaction with sweet Gabriella and her family was not coincidental, and if nothing else, we are called to spiritually adopt her.
No, the annunciation coincidence was not what I thought, expected, or wanted, but it certainly what I needed. The message was brought sharply into focus through the remarkable witness of two priests, whose sermons were miraculously woven and perfectly bookended our life’s activity this past month. This is the beauty of the Universal Church—that when holy priests stand in the person of Christ, united with the communion of saints, they deliver the message He wants for us, as individuals and the whole world. In cooperating with His will, these holy men brought me a piece of Heaven on Earth. For this, I am so grateful to them and their vocation. While I thought that chapters 5-7 were only a reminder to be thankful to God for his blessings, there was a broader meaning, and he was was preparing our hearts for the events over the past week and for the hard work of lent.
Deo Gratias!
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