Like Mary, Mother of Sorrows, we all have “Simeons” in our lives, persons who are bearers of “bad” news, scary announcements, and challenging alerts that leave us with such questions as “What now?” “ How can I possibly handle this?” “ Why, God?” We may react as Jonah did in today’s first reading (Jonah 3: 1-10) and run the opposite direction or scream “No way, not me?” Anything but what Mary said at the Annunciation, and throughout her life lived in accord with God’s will for her: “How will this happen, Lord?”
Challenging, baffling, unexpected announcements can be opportunities of tremendous graces not yet realized. However that is never, I don’t believe, our first response, not even of nuns! We all know from Scripture that Mary pondered all things in her heart. So that is one clue of how to get a handle on baffling news—even when the baffling news is good news, like “you’re going to have triplets!” When confronted with the possibility of coping with tragedy or dealing with overwhelming issues or facing bad times, what we probably do not immediately tap into is that “the Lord is with you,” or that “the Holy Spirit will over shadow you,” as Elizabeth and the angel told Mary. Yet our faith tells us that both messages are true. Do I take the time to ponder as Mary freely chose to do or, as in the story of Jonah, do I need God to arrange “a whale of an experience” for me to go into solitude and think things through with God.
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