Today we are before one of the wonders of the Lord: Mary! A humble and weak creature like us, chosen to be Mother of God, Mother of her Creator.

Just looking at Mary, let us reflect on three realities:

The first: God surprises us:
This is the experience of the Virgin Mary: in front of the announcement of the Angel, she does not hide her astonishment. It is amazing to see that, to become a man, God really chose her, who is a simple girl from Nazareth, who does not live in the palaces of power and wealth, who has no great accomplishment, but which is open to God, who knows how to trust Him, even if she does not understand everything: “Behold the servant of the Lord; let everything happen to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38). That’s her answer. God always surprises us, he breaks our schedule, upsets our plans, and tells us: trust me, do not be afraid, let yourself be surprised, come out of yourself and follow me!
Today, let us ask ourselves if we are afraid of what God might ask me or what he is asking me. Am I letting myself be surprised by God, as Mary did, or do I lock myself into my securities: material, intellectual, ideological? Do I really let God enter my life? How do I answer him?

The second: God asks us for fidelity:
Mary said her “yes” to God, a “yes” that upsets her humble existence in Nazareth, but that “yes” was not the only one, on the contrary it was only the first of many “yes” uttered in her heart in her joyful moments, as also in moments of pain, a lot of “yes” that reach their peak in the one said at the foot of the Cross. Today, there are many mothers here; think how far Mary’s fidelity to God has come: to see her only Son on the Cross. The faithful woman, standing, destroyed inside, but faithful and strong.
God asks us to be faithful to him every day in daily actions; he adds that even if sometimes we are not faithful to him, He is always faithful, and with his mercy, he is never tired of reaching out to us to raise ourselves, to encourage us to take back the road, to return to Him and tell him our weakness so that he gives us his strength. Faith is definitive fidelity, like that of Mary.

The last point: God is our strength:
Let’s look at Mary: after the Annunciation, the first thing she does is a gesture of charity towards her old relative Elizabeth; and the first words which she utters are: “My soul exalts the Lord,” that is to say, a song of praise and thanksgiving to God, not only for what he did in her, but also for his action in the whole history of salvation. Everything is given by him. If we can understand that everything is a gift from God, what happiness in our heart! Everything is given by him. He is our strength! Saying thank you is so easy, yet so difficult! It’s easy to go to the Lord asking for something, but go thank him: “Oh, I do not think about it”.
By continuing the Eucharistic celebration, let us invoke the intercession of Mary, so that she helps us to let ourselves be surprised by God without opposing resistance, to be faithful to her every day, to praise and thank him, for he is our strength.
Amen.

Pope Francis, (excerpt from the homily of October 13, 2013)