Every March 25, the Church celebrates the Annunciation: that moment when the dialogue between God and humanity, mediated by Mary’s “yes”, allowed the Word to become flesh. Today, this mystery challenges us with a new urgency. In a global context that appears to us volatile, uncertain and complex, marked by a growing dehumanization and a fractured humanity, the question resounds with force: How can we proclaim that Christ becomes humanity, even today?
A “Yes” in the face of a broken world
Our world reality is wounded by violence and the desire for domination. The documents of our last General Congregation XIX warn us about the strategies of the powerful who seek to control the world through post-truth, polarization and populism, fueling wars, forced displacement and a throwaway culture that marginalizes millions.
In the face of a world that some try to divide up as if it were booty, the Annunciation reminds us that God’s plan is not one of control and power, but of sonship and fraternity. Just as the Incarnation would not have happened without Mary’s word, today the Lord seeks human instruments to make his work of encounter and peace possible.
Incarnating Christ in the peripheries
For the Daughters of Jesus, the mission of this sexennium is clear: we are called to a “new narrative” in our way of living. We cannot be indifferent to the geographical and existential peripheries that are multiplying. These places are not just points on a social map; they are “spaces in which to incarnate the living presence of Christ”.
To proclaim that Christ wants to become humanity in a violent world means:
- To be sowers of peace in the midst of conflict.
- Building bridges of humanity where ties are broken.
- To be bold women and bearers of hope, capable of daring responses to injustice.
Also in this month’s prayer, the Holy Father invites us to pray that “every kind word, every gesture of reconciliation and every decision to dialogue may be the seeds of a new world”.
Our calling: To be hope
Today the world needs our words and gestures to speak of God in a meaningful way, even to those who seem reluctant to listen. Like Mary, we are asked for our yes, we are asked to be “born again” in order to rebuild fraternity and to show that we are daughters and sisters in a world that, very often and in many situations, has forgotten how to be so.
On this day of the Annunciation, let us look to Mary. May her capacity to listen and her courage inspire us so that, through our self-giving, Jesus may continue to be incarnated where life is most threatened. We are sent to bring Jesus into the world, convinced that he continues to make all things new.
For personal reflection:
- To which existential periphery does the Lord send me to “incarnate” his presence today?
- How can my daily “yes” help heal a wound in my close environment?
