Prayer – THE ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD

Lord Jesus, You have been in the wilderness for 4 weeks already. You must be so hungry, thirsty and exhausted. Do You even feel that God the Father has abandoned You in this trial. Lord Jesus, You knew exactly what You had to go through when You were sent by the Father to become word made flesh. You obeyed with total submission and love because You want to be with each of us as we walk on this earthly pilgrimage, You want to rejoice and be glad with us when we are happy and cry with us, suffer with us, comfort us and heal us when we go through our trials. You became God made man so we can unite all our joys and sufferings to the Heavenly Father.

主耶穌，祢已經在曠野四個星期了。祢現在一定很肚餓，很口渴，很累。祢會不會覺得在這個試探裏被天主父離棄了？主耶穌，祢在被天主父派遣成為活生生的聖言時，就清楚知道自己將要面臨的經歷。祢全心全意地服從天主，好使我們可以在俗世的旅途上跟隨祢的腳步，並偕同我們一同喜悅，在我們哭泣時一同哭泣、在我們痛苦時安慰我們、在我們受傷時為我們療傷，因著祢降生成人，讓我們可以與天主父同喜同悲。

Mother Mary, You were only a teenager when the angel Gabriel announced to You that You would become the Mother of God. Confused and uncertain, You chose trust over fear. You did not overthink how You would suffer being the Mother of God, but simply trusted God in giving you this seemingly impossible mission. Thank you for your Yes, Your cooperation with the Holy Spirit brought us salvation.

聖母瑪利亞，在天使加俾額爾告訴妳會成為天主的母親時，妳還是個青少年。在困惑與不安中，妳用信任戰勝了恐懼。妳沒有憂慮成為天主之母後究竟會遭遇什麼，或有什麼挑戰及痛苦，反而單純地相信天主會帶領妳跨越這個看似不可能的任務。謝謝妳對天主的慷慨答應，你與聖神的合作促使我們得到救贖。

Dear Mother, each of us is called into this world for a unique purpose. Perhaps this purpose will not be revealed to us as dramatically as it was to You. Perhaps You heard God’s message through angel Gabriel so clearly because You are comfortable with silence and have a deep relationship with God. Too often, we fear the emptiness, the darkness and the silence within us. Yet, it is there that the Spirit lives and works, even when my prayer seems arid. Lord Jesus, throughout the remaining Lenten period and the rest of our lives, help us go daily into the quietness and depths of our hearts, to meet You there, in love and adoration, to see Your finger at work in my life and draw inspiration from Our Mother’s disposition.

慈愛的母親，我知道我們每一個人被召叫來到世上都有一個獨特的使命。或許，我們不會像妳那樣從突然出現的天使得知我們的獨特使命。或許，是我們未能像妳一樣可以與天主建立深厚的關係並能夠靜下來聆聽天主的話語。很多時候，我們都害怕空虛、黑暗、內心的寂靜，可是，偏偏就是這些時候聖神的工作往往彰顯出來，不管我的祈禱生活何其貧乏。主耶穌，在餘下的四旬期及我們的生命裏，求祢幫助我們能夠安靜，讓祢可以觸碰我們的心坎，使我們帶著愛去見祢，並從聖母媽媽以身作則的啟發中，發現祢的神妙工程。

Janet and Elizabeth