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Annunciation

Conception

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;

and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,

and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;

and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no husband?” And the angel said to her,

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;

therefore the child to be born will be called holy,

the Son of God.

And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.

Luke 1:26–38

A beautiful girl is overshadowed by the angel of God and says a simple “yes.” At that moment, the God-man is conceived. It is a moment the whole of humanity has been waiting for. In that one instant, a new kind of humanity is created, and the course of history is changed forever. In that moment of affirmation, the love of God and the potential of mankind meet. As the child is conceived, all that the man Jesus will be and do is held in a pure concentrated form of one cell charged with God’s power and love. This is a moment of pure and perfect creation. The abundance of God bursts into human form in all glory, simplicity, and power.

Think It Through

The moment of our own conception was the foundation moment of our life. Many people believe the conditions of our conception actually influence our personality and the course of our later development. If we were conceived in love, security, warmth, tenderness, and the sacramental grace of marriage, then the foundation of our life is one of love, security, confidence, tenderness, energy, and grace.

Unfortunately, not all of us were conceived in this situation. No matter how wonderful our parents were, they, too, were locked into the curse of original sin. Within the act of making love they brought their own failures, selfishness, lack of love, and imperfections. As we share all their genetic characteristics, so we also share their intangible character traits. These aspects of our parents became incarnate in us as they made love and we were conceived. At that moment, all the good and bad characteristics of both parents fused in one explosive moment of creation. It was that moment in which we were conceived, and the foundation of our lives was established.

Each union of man and woman has the potential to create a new life. If the union was full of love, mercy, tenderness, and total self-giving, then the child conceived has a positive foundation of his or her being. If, however, the sexual union was negative, it is possible that the negativities will be at the foundation of the child’s life.

If we were conceived outside marriage, or in a moment of immature or drunken lust, then these negative elements may be at the foundation of our being. The English psychiatrist Frank Lake did some groundbreaking work forty years ago, and he claimed that the moment of our conception did indeed influence the later development of our lives. He theorized that if we were conceived in an act of rebellion, rage, or violence, then violence, rebellion, and rage would be grounded in the foundation of our personality. If this is true, then these dark elements at the very foundation of our lives will continue to haunt us and terrify us. The negative foundation may lead to mysterious compulsions and addictive behaviors that seem to have no cure.

Healing Example

As a priest, I was once asked to counsel a young man named David. At the age of fifteen, David suddenly developed an irrationally rebellious streak. This was combined with an obsession with cars, and he had already been caught stealing cars for joyriding. His parents were at their wits’ end. In talking to them, we discovered that David had been adopted, and that he had been conceived when his mother was fifteen, in the backseat of a car. We had a Mass of Reconciliation, in which David (by God’s grace) forgave his birth parents. His irrational behavior stopped immediately, and real harmony was established with his adoptive family.

Pray for Healing

As we meditate on the perfect conception of Jesus at the Annunciation, any negativity or absence of love in our lives at the moment of our own conception can be made up by the radiant love of God expressed at the moment of the conception of Jesus. As you meditate on the events of Jesus’ conception, imagine the total purity of Mary. Can you see her youthful beauty and the rapture of her total love for God? Can you experience the surge of power and love that God poured into her? Can you open yourself to that same healing, life-giving power? Can you feel the way that Mary was “full of grace”? That fullness was the fullness and totality of God’s love being poured into that moment of the creation of new life.

Now let the Holy Spirit move you back to the moment of your own conception. You cannot remember that moment, but can you imagine it? Can you place yourself in the amazingly tiny state of a seed and egg meeting? You were once just two cells at the creation point of a new life. Allow the Holy Spirit to bring you to that simple moment of life. Can you feel what the emotion was like at that moment in time? Was it full of love, tenderness, and God’s grace, or was there negativity, lust, or rage within that foundation moment? Was there tension, selfishness, and fear? Was there a lack of trust, or despair, or anger?

Let it go. Let Jesus Christ’s forgiveness and healing into that moment. Feel God’s perfect fatherly love and grace filling that moment. Allow the motherly love of Mary to overwhelm any gaps and failings in the love of your human parents. Allow the forgiveness of Christ to flow to them. He loves them and knows their failings. He knows all the gaps in their lives, too. Take time. Allow Christ’s healing love to seep into every tiny crevice at the very beginnings and foundation of your personality.

Rest in the knowledge and presence of Jesus Christ the healer. He is there at that moment. You were formed in his perfect love. You are safe, secure, loved, and valued. You are infinitely precious in his sight.

Thank God for this Gift

Heavenly Father, you have created me in your own image. Heal any wounds and forgive any sins that may have surrounded the moment of my conception, and by the Holy Spirit continue to create in me a new heart each day. This I ask through Christ my Lord. Amen.