Overshadowing You
“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.”Luke 1:35
It is quite weird celebrating the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord on April 8th this year instead of the March 25th, exactly 9 months before Christmas. It is so this year because March 25th landed during Holy Week and so the celebration is transferred to the Monday after the Octave of Easter (today). How interesting it is that on the day we celebrate the Annunciation, the day our Lord was conceived by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, a total solar eclipse will move across North America. On the day of the Annunciation the “power of the Most High” overshadowed Mary, and today the moon will overshadow the sun (or the earth depending on how you want to see it). The overshadowing of Mary revealed the Son of God to man and the overshadowing of the moon will hide the sun.
On the day of the Annunciation, Mary was living her ordinary day, doing chores and praying when behold an Angel appeared before her, addressing her as full of grace, and telling her that she will bear the Son of God. She was troubled because she did not understand how that would be possible since she was not yet married to Joseph. Then the Angel told her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and that the “power of the Most High” will overshadow her, pointing to the Child as “holy, the Son of God.” This overshadowing reminds us of the mountaintop where there was a cloud overshadowing the place where God encountered Moses and of the Holy of Holies in the Temple where the Shekhinah or the “presence of God” is made known by a cloud.
When the power of the Most High overshadows, holiness enters. As baptized Christians, we have received the gift of the Holy Spirit and have been overshadowed by the power of the Most High, setting us apart, being made holy. By virtue of our baptism, we have been brought into the very presence of God. Do we realize this? Do we live our lives knowing this reality? Perhaps we have allowed other powers to overshadow us.
What are the things we have allowed into our lives that overshadow us, that keep us from experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit and receiving the gift of God’s grace and mercy? Let us find the courage to ask the power of the Most High to overshadow us, dispelling the clouds that darken our spirits so that like Mary, we too may say “yes” to God and live in His presence, always mindful that we are indeed His beloved sons and daughters.
As those of us who are in North America gaze upon the sky this afternoon to see the wonder of the solar eclipse, let us never cease to be amazed by God’s creation. Yes, the moon may try to obstruct the sun so that we here on earth will see a shadow over the sun, but even at its totality, a ring of light remains. Brothers and sisters, no matter how much darkness we may have allowed to penetrate our hearts or how much power we have allowed other things to overshadow us, the Son can never be totally obscured — His light will always shine through.
Blessed Annunciation and Happy Solar Eclipse to you!
