The Annunciation

Sometimes at the very bottom of paintings of the angel telling Mary that she is to be the Mother of the Savior, the artist paints a small picture of Christ lying in the tomb. This shows us the destiny of the child who begins to lie in Mary’s womb at the annunciation. Such paintings remind us that life is a gift which has its own cost. We accept it to share it, and in sharing it generously we discover life’s meaning, although not without cost. God becomes man so that each of us can be reborn from God. — Francis Cardinal George