A canvas that brings together Heaven and Earth: Henry Ossawa Tanner’s “Annunciation” https://t.co/NtfytZl7Re pic.twitter.com/KSrR9IMiB8— Aleteia (@AleteiaEN) December 15, 2017
When we consider the “wibbly-wobbly” nature of time, the penetration of these events in life today and continuously in the story of our relationship to God is the witness to the Loving Power that overshadows humanity. The Dynastic Oracle is the prophetic message of Nathan to David in the Second Book of Samuel that sets the expectation of the Messianic ruler in Israel.
[7:8–16] The message Nathan delivers to David, called the Dynastic Oracle, is prompted by David’s intention to build a house (i.e., a temple) for the Lord, like David’s own house (i.e., palace) of cedar. David is told, in effect, not to bother building a house for the Lord; rather, the Lord will make a house for him—a dynasty, the House of David. Not only will he have descendants (v. 12) who will sit upon the throne of Israel (v. 13), their rule will last forever (vv. 13, 16); and even if they transgress the Lord’s commands, the line of David will never be removed from kingship as Saul was (cf. 1 Sm 13; 15). The oracle establishes the Davidic king as standing in relationship to the Lord as a son to a father (v. 14; cf. Ps 2:7; 89:27). The Dynastic Oracle, with cognate texts in the Scriptures, is the basis for Jewish expectations of an anointed king (1 Sm 12:3, 5), son of David (Mt 21:9); cf. Acts 2:30; Heb 1:5.The doxology written by Paul is an admirable conclusion to the Letter to the Romans.
[16:25–27] This doxology is assigned variously to the end of Rom 14; 15; 16 in the manuscript tradition. Some manuscripts omit it entirely. Whether written by Paul or not, it forms an admirable conclusion to the letter at this point.In the Gospel from Luke, the message of Gabriel to Mary focuses on Jesus in his identity as Son of David (Lk 1:32–33) and Son of God (Lk 1:32, 35).
[1:26–38] The announcement to Mary of the birth of Jesus is parallel to the announcement to Zechariah of the birth of John. In both the angel Gabriel appears to the parent who is troubled by the vision (Lk 1:11–12, 26–29) and then told by the angel not to fear (Lk 1:13, 30). After the announcement is made (Lk 1:14–17, 31–33) the parent objects (Lk 1:18, 34) and a sign is given to confirm the announcement (Lk 1:20, 36). The particular focus of the announcement of the birth of Jesus is on his identity as Son of David (Lk 1:32–33) and Son of God (Lk 1:32, 35).Ralph W. Klein connects the Oracle of Nathan to the critique of a Temple for the Jews, a theme that connects the Zionists who created the modern State of Israel to the Christian-Zionists of today, and the Christian already but not yet Messianic expectation.
While David’s offer to build Yahweh a house or a temple was rejected, Yahweh promised to build David a house, that is, an everlasting dynasty. Davidic kings ruled in Jerusalem for more than four centuries, ending with the exiling of Zedekiah in 586 BCE. But already before the end of the physical kingship, biblical writers concluded that God would keep the promise to David in the promise of the coming messiah, and Christians concluded that the promise of messiah was fulfilled in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, whose title Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word messiah. So 2 Samuel 7 is the real basis for the messianic hope.Father John A. Hardon, S.J. credits the Blessed Virgin Mary, with teaching us the hardest, yet most important lesson about surrender that we have to learn in life.
Blessed Virgin Mary, teach us the hardest yet most important lesson we have to learn in life. That like you, we to shall be blessed, made happy by God in this life by conforming our wills to the will of your divine Son. And again like you, we shall join Him and you in that blessed eternity provided that once more, like you, we have always loved what He tells us to do. AmenDon Schwager reflects that Mary's prompt response of "yes" to the divine message is a model of faith for all believers.
Mary's prompt response of "yes" to the divine message is a model of faith for all believers. Mary believed God's promises even when they seemed impossible. She was full of grace because she trusted that what God said was true and would be fulfilled. She was willing and eager to do God's will, even if it seemed difficult or costly. Mary is the "mother of God" because God becomes incarnate when he takes on flesh in her womb. When we pray the Nicene Creed we state our confession of faith in this great mystery: "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made man".
Friar Jude Winkler adds some background to the reasons why God forbade David to build a Temple. The name of Yeshua “Yahweh saves” and the “son of God”, the Messiah, the anointed One, the King of Israel and sense that the Shekhina(h) would overshadow Mary as the new Ark of the Covenant through the Incarnation occurs through an act of surrender and not after understanding of what it all means, Friar Jude reminds.
Lauren Tuchman expands the concept of The Shekhinah or The Divine Presence or Divine Feminine in Judaism.
In other words, the Shekhinah is made manifest or felt in those moments when a person feels closest or most deeply connected to G-d. The Shekhinah dwells with a person while they are praying, studying sacred text or while doing any number of positive mitzvot which bring joy, including dwelling in the Sukkah, the temporary booth that Jews dwell in for the Sukkot holiday which occurs in the fall. The Shekhinah is with those who are sick and is mentioned in the Angel’s Blessing which is a part of the Bedtime Shema.John Shea, S.J. shares a reflection of time’s “wibbly-wobbly” nature in which today is the last day of Advent, Christmas Eve, and also (beginning with the vigil Mass) the first day of Christmas time. He asks how we will occupy those few hours in between these two liturgical seasons?
Mary fulfills the prophecy with her yes, “May it be done to me according to your word” and so the Incarnation begins…. or so we like to believe. But God’s entering into Creation had already begun. It was always part of the Divine Plan. God is love and the lover always wants to be with the beloved. Thus, God’s desire to be with us goes back to the beginning of Creation and, transcending time, stretches into the far distant future. We see this desire manifested when we recognize God in Scripture, the Eucharist, Creation and one another. The Incarnation has occurred, is occurring, and continues to occur. Time is too wibbly-wobbly to simply constrain God’s enfleshment to one specific time and place.Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, prays we may go and grow forward as breach-menders, who restore the places in which God’s presence has become hidden or misrepresented. We need to have courage and be tender.
This year we’ve explored many first principles or essential elements of the Christian tradition, attempting to clear away the rubble of unhelpful theology, low-level thinking, abuse of power, and misunderstanding. Even if you aren’t Christian, I hope you’ve been able to apply universal themes to your own spiritual journey. Here are just some of those topics (find more in the online archive):
The Incarnation is ongoing and the Presence of God in The Shekhinah from Hebrew Tradition and in the Eucharist of Christian practice is experience like the Divine that cannot be confined in time-space.
References
(n.d.). 2 Samuel, chapter 7 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 24, 2017, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/2samuel/7
(n.d.). Romans, chapter 16 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 24, 2017, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/romans/16:25
(n.d.). Luke, chapter 1 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved December 24, 2017, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/1:46
(n.d.). 2 Samuel 7:1-14a Commentary by Ralph W. Klein - Working Preacher .... Retrieved December 24, 2017, from https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2528
(n.d.). Fr. Hardon Archives - The Annunciation Retrieved December 24, 2017, from http://www.therealpresence.org/archives/Angelology/Angelology_022.htm
(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved December 24, 2017, from http://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
(2012, January 17). The Shekhinah or The Divine Presence or Divine Feminine in Judaism. Retrieved December 24, 2017, from http://www.stateofformation.org/2012/01/the-shekhinah-or-the-divine-presence-or-divine-feminine-in-judaism/
(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections .... Retrieved December 24, 2017, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archives - Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved December 24, 2017, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/
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