REV. ANDREW KOLITSOS Like Mary, we must listen for God's Word

The recent tragedy of the U.S. submarine's sinking the Japanese fishing vessel upon the submarine's surfacing was attributed to the "listening posts" of the sub's sonar not being adequately and properly manned. Sonar is the high-tech "ear" of a submarine that allows it to navigate underneath the ocean and to know what is above it on the surface.
To not listen, to not hear, to disregard, or to not discern what your sonar "ears" are telling you can result in shipwreck and loss of life, as tragically happened with the USS Greeneville.
In the great Feast of the Annunciation, celebrated Sunday, Christianity, East and West, celebrates the incarnation of the Word of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, conceived as a man in the womb of the Virgin Mary, because she listened.
Complete faith: Mary, the young Jewish maiden, listened for God's voice, for God's will, for God's Word to her throughout her life, every day of her life. Mary accomplished this by daily prayer, by studying the holy Scriptures, and by living her life sincerely acknowledging her total and absolute dependence on God.
Living her life in the Gospel spirit of poverty allowed her to listen to God daily. When the Father spoke to her and asked her to become pregnant with His Word, Mary was listening. She heard God's will for her and she humbly responded, "May it be done to me according to your Word."
Because Mary listened, heard, and consented to God's Word she conceived in the flesh the salvation of mankind, the joy and long desired one from the beginning of time, the life of the world, the Word that was with God, the Word that was God (John 1:1).
In our own lives: In order for our lives to have purpose and meaning, to follow the path that leads to true security and peace, we must listen, hear, and discern what God's will is for our lives. We can do this as Mary did through daily prayers, studying the sacred Scriptures, and by daily lifting up our lives acknowledging our total and absolute dependence on God and his great mercy.
If we neglect or refuse to listen, hear, discern, and to do God's will for our lives, we will end up in shipwreck and tragedy, devastating our lives and the lives around us. But if we listen, hear, and do God's will for our lives, we too can become pregnant with God's Word in our lives and bring others to the life of the world, to Jesus Christ.
At the Annunciation, we honor Mary and thank her for being our model and guide in listening and doing the Father's will by conceiving in the flesh His Word; and we praise the Father in the words of the ancient Orthodox hymn:
"Today is the crown of our salvation and the manifestation of the eternal mystery.
The Son of God becomes the Son of the Virgin, and Gabriel announces the good news of God's grace."
XThe Rev. Andrew Kolitsos is pastor of St. John The Forerunner Greek Orthodox Church in Youngstown.