MARFAM WEEKLY E-NEWSLETTER 25 MARCH, FEAST OF THE ANNUNCIATION. LENT AND YEAR OF ST FRANCIS.
Regular MARFAM readers may wonder if Toni has undergone a conversion in focusing on women, rather than broadly on families. Maybe I have, maybe not but I see the Annunciation on 25 March as very much a woman-in-family feastday, as it was the announcement of a pregnancy, However, of course, the fact of the Incarnation, and God becoming a human being, overshadows the fact that a young woman will become a mother of a very special child. It is in fact a feast of The Holy Family. Joseph whose feastday was celebrated on 19th March does have an important role in the story too as he was also requested by an angel to lend his support. Joseph has been given greater prominence in the Church in recent years, being included in many formal prayers as “the spouse of Mary.” “Most chaste spouse,” is a moot point for me, as, in promoting a healthy sexuality, chastity per se is the ideal way for everyone, chastity really meaning appropriate behavior for the situation.
Every family with children will have experienced annunciations too. My personal ones have been of 4 children, 7 grandchildren 2 great-grandchildren as well as my sisters. Were they all wanted, timely, to be cherished as children deserve to be, as the fruit of love of their parents? This could be a topic for reflection, on the hopes and fears, joys and anxieties this important reality elicits in a woman. Reflection ideally as a couple and maybe for some sharing in a family setting too.
But the focus on the feast of the Annunciation is on Mary, a young virgin, who was told she would become the mother of the Messiah. After some questioning her generous words of acceptance were, “let it be done to me according to your word.” even though it could become a very awkward situation for her.
A booklet of fiction in my library Two From Galilee chose an imaginary perspective of Mary and Joseph being a young couple, deeply in love and hoping to marry when the time came. Their love story, playing out the implications of her pregnancy, childbirth and Joseph’s support offers beautiful food for reflection for many young people too.
March’s family theme for MARFAM has been HUMAN RIGHTS ARE FAMILY RIGHTS. A number of feastdays and other commemorative days have also offered food for thought for families. Water month/week/day, Forest Day, International Women’s Day, the St Patrick’s Day, even the Equinox on 21st March all have a following for society and for those who have the time and interest. The wars that have captured the daily news and updates too from Pope Leo, have sadly almost become “old hat.” Are we suffering from “war fatigue?” Would that one day it could be “peace fatigue! Because a sense of harmony and wellbeing even though it is Lent and a time for fasting and repentance are most welcome on a spiritual journey. But a thought to shatter any complacency or indifference was a short news item in which UNICEF posted that 2100 children have been killed in the Iranian war in the last 25 days. Not to speak of other wars and other deaths, innocent, unnecessary deaths, caused by wanton power hunger. Other innocent deaths to be remembered during this Family rights month are the unborn, whose basic right to life is determined by a mother, if no one else. A future mother, but a mother all the same, maybe deperate, lonely, hurt, confused, poor or wealthy enough to afford a child, but maybe not willing or interested to make the sacrifices required and so escape the joy of motherhood.
A current topic of interest for me at present is the model of Church as Family. The 1994 African synod of bishops chose this image as appropriate for Africa, where a love of children, family as a core component of society and hospitality towards strangers are traditional values. Pope Leo has issued a letter on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of Amoris Laetitia, the Apostolic Exhortation of Pope Francis subtitled The Joy of Love. As we plan to revisit its messages and, for now, soon progress into Holy Week may the joy of love be part of our Easter joy as we grow towards being holy families. Women, as mothers, in a unique way can accompany Mary and Jesus through his Passion and death and the new life of the resurrection.
IF. A great poem by Rudyard Kipling, is a guide for life based on a list of many “ifs”: If you can keep your head,…. dream, …. talk, …. walk,…. “if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, if all men count with you but none too much, than yours is the Earth and all that is in it, but one thing more, You’ll be a man, my son.” In the world of today, so focused on the needs of women, may the men in their lives be the support for their women as mothers and the good of their children. After all… “Blessed are you among women.” TR 25 March 2026
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY 25 MARCH.
25 March. Annunciation. SEE. Justine shared some of her insights into the Annunciation with the youth at one of their sessions. “Mary, a young girl, betrothed to be married, had her life turned upside down by the invitation she received through the angel Gabriel to be the mother of the Messiah. She rightly questioned the angel, asking how this could be but her ‘yes’ to God was unconditional. From that moment on she devoted her life to her Son. This was an unplanned pregnancy and at that time it would have been as problematical as it has been for many other young women until our day as, according to custom, she could have been stoned and killed. Joseph also responded positively to God’s request in a dream, and accepted and treasured Mary as his wife and Jesus as his son. Unwed mothers in different cultures have had very difficult experiences. A shocking report disclosed how unwed mothers and babies were being ill-treated in institutions in Ireland, because of the judgmental attitudes of the Church, the community and their families.” Justine invited the youth to share on the question, ”Although abortion is sinful as the killing of an unborn human being is it too commonly chosen as a solution because it is legal in South Africa. Should other support for pregnant girls, women and their families be more available? What about the rights of the unborn?”
JUDGE, reflect and share. Scripture: “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word.” From Luke 1:26-382. Pope Francis: the journey of fraternity also has a Mother, whose name is Mary. She cares not only for Jesus but also for the rest of her children. She wants to give birth to a new world, where all of us are brothers and sisters. FT 278. At her side is St Joseph her husband who cared with tender devotion for the Holy Family as they too were exiles in Egypt. LS 241.
Pope Leo: “Authentic Marian spirituality brings God’s tenderness, his way of ‘being a mother,’ to light in the Church, Whenever we look to Mary, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness. In her we see that humility and tenderness are not virtues of the weak but of the strong who need not treat others poorly in order to feel important themselves. Devotion to Mary leads to action and social transformation, without losing compassion.” An Augustinian devotion is to Our Lady of Good Counsel.
St Francis and Mary. St Francis chose Mary as the patroness and Queen of the Friars, because of his great inexpressible love for her, ”for it was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother.” Francis often reflected on her courage in accepting the challenges she had to face by responding, “Your will be done. Francis composed a litany of her special qualities and exhorted his friars always to possess a true and living devotion to her.
The Little Flowers of St Francis contains some accounts of Marian experiences. Brother Peter witnessed how Brother Conrad implored the Virgin Mary to obtain from her Blessed Son that he might experience some of the sweetness which Simeon experienced on the day of the Purification when he held Jesus in his arms. The Virgin Mary responded and as Queen of Heaven appeared in great splendour with her Blessed Son in her arms and approaching Brother Conrad placed the Holy Child in his arms. He received him most reverently and clasped him to his breast, his heart overflowing and burning with divine love and consolation.
REFLECT, SHARE, ACT, PRAY. How can we and our family invite Mary in our families to help us support the right to life from birth until natural death. This right can extend from humans to conservation projects in the wild? Such causes often receive very little support.
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