The Spirit responds with yes

Today the texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary again start with the prophesy of Isaiah, given as a sign to Ahaz, that a child would be born as Immanuel (God is with us). Luke’s Gospel tells of the Annunciation to Mary by the angel of God that she has been chosen to give birth to Immanuel. Yesterday, the Lectionary contained Matthew’s account of the annunciation to Joseph, in a dream, that he is chosen to take Mary as his wife and ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel’ Both Joseph and Mary are greeted by angels who implore them not to be afraid. This greeting anticipates the fear that naturally would accompany such requests from the Divine. The evangelists who relate these events have different backgrounds and different audiences for their work. Matthew is a Jew writing for Jews to help them understand Jesus as the fulfillment of the expectation of a Messiah to renew the Covenant between God and His people. Luke writes as a Gentile and a physician and student of human nature. He is one who has accompanied Paul and met with the believers of Jerusalem who have known Jesus. The “yes” of Mary is the model to Christians to moving with the Spirit in the direction prompted which may not be one that is understandable in human experience and within human time. Joseph is called in maturity to change his piety to one of action with and for the Holy Family. Mary, in her immaturity, calls on a Spirit which proclaims the goodness of the Lord even as the path ahead is completely uncharted and will require continuous communion with the Divine. The reflection in the days leading up to Christmas renews the understanding that the “Word is made flesh” and this intimacy of the Divine becoming flesh and being integrated within the being of humanity, and all individual humans, is the Covenant that is eternal.