In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Annunciation refers to the event recorded in today’s
third reading: the Archangel Gabriel is sent from God to announce to the
Blessed Virgin Mary that she has been chosen to be the Mother of God. We might
choose to number three miracles in this event.[1] First
is the miracle of the Incarnation. “Incarnate” simply means “in flesh.” The Son
of God, Second Person of the Holy Trinity, is sent by the Father, deposited by
the Holy Spirit, and becomes man. God himself becomes a man to redeem mankind.
The Annunciation connects the two greatest feasts of the
Church – Christmas and Easter. The Son of God took on flesh precisely so that
he could die upon the cross. Christmas must happen first so that Good Friday
and then Easter Sunday may follow. The Incarnation makes the Atonement
possible. ‘To pay the debt of our sinful state, God, who is incapable of
suffering, joined Himself to humanity, which can suffer. Thus, in keeping with
the healing that we needed, one and the same mediator between God and men, the
man Jesus Christ, was able to die in one nature and unable to die in the other.’[2]
Christ our Lord was born in the city of little branches, Nazareth, that he
would die upon the ultimate Tree of the Cross.
Far less grand than the Incarnation, is the miracle of the Virgin
Birth. From the perspective of a created being, the Virgin Birth might seem like
the greater miracle. For the Creator of the cosmos, such a miracle seems almost
a parlor trick, but it is not without purpose.
In the first place, the Savior of Man required a pure vessel
in which to be born. God is already without sin, but He must remain so after
taking on the flesh of man. He must have been born the seed of a woman, without
the help of man so that Original Sin would not stain His flesh.
In the second place, the virgin womb of Mary is to indicate
the holiness of God’s dwelling place with man. The Church is to be the holy
dwelling of God. It is to be unmarred by the stain of sin. This holy space is
set apart from the temporal. It is not like other buildings for it is the house
of God.[3]
During the gathering of the saints in the Divine Service, heaven comes to earth,
and we experience a glimpse of heaven. It is unstained by sin for it is holy.
Yet the womb of Mary is preserved from such sin. The Holy
Ghost overshadows Mary and delivers the Son of God to her holy womb. The Holy
Body and Precious Blood of the same Savior who grew within the Virgin Mary now
sits upon the altars of the faithful, untainted by sin, given to be eaten and
drunk by all who would be called holy children of God.
Now the third miracle of the Annunciation might be
considered the greatest of all. It is the faith of Mary. This young woman, in
her early teens, barely even a woman, hears the words of St. Gabriel and
receives them with humility. This humility, this faith, is not a quality of
Mary’s own.
The text does not reveal the moment at which Christ is
conceived nor when the Holy Ghost overshadowed the Virgin Mother, but it would
seem to have occurred during this conversation with Gabriel. The angel appears
and Mary is troubled. Gabriel consoles her by saying, “Fear not dear child, for
you have found favor with God.”
Mary’s troubled conscience is the reaction of sinful man in
the face of holiness and yet it is not the reaction of one who does not
believe. Zechariah, met by the same angel, is troubled and fearful. Mary is
only troubled. She trusts in the greeting of Gabriel and that the Lord is with
her. Gabriel then speaks the absolution – a word of forgiveness that all the
faithful, Mary and us included, require – and proceeds to announce the
conception of the Savior.
This faith of young Mary is then displayed in feminine
virtue. The chief biblical, feminine virtue is submission. Submission is not
weakness nor frailty. Submission is the recognition that you are not in
authority. You are not in control. Women are called to submit to their husbands
as the Church submits to Christ.[4]
At the same time, men must recognize our calling to be the
head of woman. We are given authority in the household because God created Adam
first, and then Eve. Eve was deceived first, and then Adam. Man is given
authority for the sake of caring for and preserving the family—not to satisfy
the desire for power.
Blessed Mary exhibits true humility when, barely more than a
child, she submits to the words of St. Gabriel and proclaims, “Let it be to me according
to Your Word.”[5]
She is not accepting a tempting business proposal. She is submitting her will
to the Will of God. We do not know if Mary was excited to be a mother in those
moments. We don’t know if she was concerned what others might think. She didn’t
know exactly what would happen either. She knew her son was to be the Son of
God, the Savior who would reign forever.[6]
Faithful and humble Mary is strengthened by the Word of God,
spoken to her by the messenger. The miracle of the Word of God turning the
hearts of man from stone to flesh is the greatest miracle of the Annunciation.
To emphasize this point, God chose a lowly handmaid to be the mother of God. A
young woman, of David’s lineage but of humble birth, displays faith only
possible by the gift of the Holy Spirit and this gift is delivered on the lips
of an angel.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
[1]
The outline of the three miracles of the Annunciation comes from Martin Luther,
The Christmas Book, trans. by Roland H. Bainton (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1948), 22-23. The original thoughts from St. Bernard come from a series
of sermons found in Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, “On the Missus Est,” Saint
Bernard of Clairvaux Collection [8 Books] Aeterna Press, Kindle Edition,
beginning on p. 1317.
[2]
St. Leo the Great, The Feast of the Annunciation: In Mary’s Womb, God
Becomes Man, available at http://www.lectionarycentral.com/stmaryannunc/Leo2.html.
Also found in the Annunciation file.
[3]
Psalm 122:1.
[4]
Ephesians 5:22-24.
[5]
St. Luke 1:38.
[6]
St. Luke 1:31-32, 35.
No comments:
Post a Comment