Given at the Basilica of Our Lady of Walsingham, on 21st September 2024, for the annual diocesan pilgrimage.
‘The Angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth.’
Now we are here in a small village in Norfolk, called Little Walsingham, known as the Nazareth of England. We are here to refresh in our hearts and minds that unique event, the coming of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, proclaiming and explaining God’s invitation to her. We hear again with joy Mary’s reply, the sublime words: ‘Let what you have said be done to me.’ Thus began to unfold the greatest single event in the history of mankind: the birth in our flesh of the Eternal Word of God, the Word through whom the whole universe is created, come to repair and restore the damaged handiwork of God.
Today as we gather in this holy place we are filled with thanksgiving that through this coming of Jesus we have not been left in the dark, unless we choose to be there. No, the great light has come into our world, into our hearts, to open for us the pathway of hope, even unto eternal life. We thank God, who sent the Angel. We thank Mary who declared her trust and her readiness, who opened for us the pathway of life.
Here in Walsingham we are invited to do the same as Mary. Just as she opened her home to Jesus, so can we try to make our homes a place of welcome for him, a place of prayer and peace, filled with his Holy Spirit. Just as Mary gave her body to receive the Eternal Word of God, giving him her flesh and her nourishment, so too are we invited to welcome Jesus into our hearts and bodies that he may live in us and use us for his work.
Mary, we remember, received this invitation from the Angel. Today we might think about the angels in our lives who bring us the message of God, if only we have ears to hear!
Angels are those beings who do the work of God. Angels bring God’s gifts and good news. Their presence gives joy. Angels bring encouragement. Angels are sent to accompany God’s people. They are sent to heal, to instruct and above all to praise God.
So for a moment I ask us all to recall moments in our lives when we have received guidance in life, such as from the wise and kindly friend, or teacher or parent. Think of those who have guarded you in times of risk and danger. Bring to mind the loved ones who have comforted, healed and held you close with tenderness and compassion. Think too of those who bring you joy - the child or grandchild, whom you have held high and danced with joy saying: ‘Oh, my little angel!’
Can you remember moments such as these? Think of them now, for these are the moments when, I believe, the angels were coming into your life at God’s command.
Yes, that is so. There are so many moments when grace flows into our lives. These are moment, we may say, when the angels are hard at work.
You see, the world is full of the angels of God.
Each of these angels also comes to make a request of us. Angels are sent at special moment, in moments of particular need. They bring God’s grace, and they also have a request, quietly spoke but made, nevertheless. They ask: ‘Will you please let this moment of grace flow into the whole of your life, filling you with light and love, sustaining you always, so that those around you can share the fruit of all you have been given.’
This is how our task, our mission, may indeed come to us. Our times are times of need. You can look around you and know what is needed more than anything else. It may be tenderness in hardened relationships. It may be forgiveness in the face of bitterness. It may be compassion in the face of hardship and poverty, or it may be simple love in the face of loneliness. When you ponder the presence of angels in your own life, see for yourself what particular need are they asking you to meet. And then be generous just as the good Lord is generous to you.
You know the well-known saying: that Jesus has no hands to use but ours, no tongue to speak with but ours, no arms with which to embrace but ours. This truth has its beginnings in Mary, who gave herself to him in her home in Nazareth. This truth is to continue in each of us: in the young with energy and enthusiasm, in the more grown up with maturity and confidence, and in the elderly with patience and wisdom. Each of us is called to be close to Jesus so that through us he may be close to others. Today this is the invitation we receive. Today we can respond with a joyful ‘Yes, Lord, with Mary, with her help and prayers, I too am ready and willing to be a place for your presence in our world, a bearer of your message in my daily life, in every place I go.’
As we rejoice in the great moment of the Annunciation, we praise God for his angels and for the wonder of Mary’s ‘Yes!’ As we bow in adoration during this Mass we know we are joining the choirs of angels in their unending song of praise, for here heaven and earth come together, just as they did on that most amazing of moments in Nazareth in Galilee.
May our pilgrimage today bear great fruit in our lives so that from Walsingham we may be messengers of life and love, angels in our turn, in the footsteps of Gabriel, inspired by the sinless grace and beauty of Mary, our Queen and Mother.
Amen.