117. “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 117

Ave Maria series

117  How could the Holy Spirit work in, with, and through Mary?

Mary was totally responsive and open to God (Luke 1:38).  Thus she was able to become the “Mother of God” through the working of the Holy Spirit—and as Christ’s Mother to become also the Mother of Christians, indeed, the Mother of all mankind.  [721-726]

The Annunciation by Henry Ossawa_Tanner 1898. …..117

Mary made it possible for the Holy Spirit to work the miracle of all miracles: the Incarnation of God.  She gave God her Yes:  “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38).  Strengthened by the Holy Spirit, she went with Jesus through thick and thin, even to the foot of the Cross.  There Jesus gave her to us all as our Mother (John 19:25-27).  80-85, 479

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”  Luke 1:35

[721-726]

THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST IN THE FULLNESS OF TIME

"Rejoice, you who are full of grace"

721 Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary.( Compare Proverbs 8:1-9:6; Sirach 24.)¹⁰¹ Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom."  In her, the "wonders of God" that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church began to be manifested: --Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

722 The Holy Spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily"(Colossians 2:9.)¹⁰² should herself be "full of grace." She was, by sheer grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty. It was quite correct for the angel Gabriel to greet her as the "Daughter of Zion": "Rejoice."( Compare Zephaniah 3:14; Zechariah 2:14.)¹⁰³ It is the thanksgiving of the whole People of God, and thus of the Church, which Mary in her canticle(Compare Luke 1:46-55.)¹⁰⁴ lifts up to the Father in the Holy Spirit while carrying within her the eternal Son. --CCC

723 In Mary, the Holy Spirit fulfills the plan of the Father's loving goodness. Through the Holy Spirit, the Virgin conceives and gives birth to the Son of God. By the Holy Spirit's power and her faith, her virginity became uniquely fruitful.( Compare Luke 1:26-38; Romans 4:18-21; Galatians 4:26-28.)¹⁰⁵ –CCC

724 In Mary, the Holy Spirit manifests the Son of the Father, now become the Son of the Virgin. She is the burning bush of the definitive theophany. Filled with the Holy Spirit she makes the Word visible in the humility of his flesh. It is to the poor and the first representatives of the gentiles that she makes him known.( Compare Luke 1:15-19; Matthew 2:11.)¹⁰⁶ –CCC

725 Finally, through Mary, the Holy Spirit begins to bring men, the objects of God's merciful love,( Compare Luke 2:14.)¹⁰⁷ into communion with Christ. And the humble are always the first to accept him: shepherds, magi, Simeon and Anna, the bride and groom at Cana, and the first disciples. –CCC

726 At the end of this mission of the Spirit, Mary became the Woman, the new Eve ("mother of the living"), the mother of the "whole Christ."( Compare John 19:25-27.)¹⁰⁸ As such, she was present with the Twelve, who "with one accord devoted themselves to prayer,"( Acts of the Apostles 1:14.)¹⁰⁹ at the dawn of the "end time" which the Spirit was to inaugurate on the morning of Pentecost with the manifestation of the Church. –CCC

JC  Archangel