The good news in the gospel of Jesus Christ is that repentance, like a tornado, also brings with it transformation and restoration. It seems odd at first that the lesser festival of the Annunciation of Our Lord should fall here in the middle of Lent. Then we realize that while we are in the heart of the Lenten season, we are also nine months away from Christmas and the birth of the very one whose death and resurrection we are preparing to witness. It is indeed the right time to note his miraculous conception. As women, we are uniquely able to understand and live into this juxtaposition of time.
Women understand cycles.
We understand surprises. Seedlings require more water and protection from the hot sun than mature plants do. A butterfly fresh from its cocoon must rest with its vivid wings outstretched to dry, before it can fly from danger. We complete our time of Lenten meditations knowing that at the end, new life is given to us by the life, death, resurrection, and continuing presence of Jesus Christ. We often fail to realize that we are called to respond to that new life with a new vulnerability.