The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord show some of the occasions in salvation history when decisions to say yes to accepting the will of the God was paramount.
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| From ‘The Annunciation’ by Helen Elwes. Photo: Campion Hall |
The Prophet Isaiah uses the name of one of his children, Emmanuel, to stress to King Ahaz the need to seek and obey the will of God.
* [7:14] Isaiah’s sign seeks to reassure Ahaz that he need not fear the invading armies of Syria and Israel in the light of God’s promise to David (2 Sm 7:12–16). The oracle follows a traditional announcement formula by which the birth and sometimes naming of a child is promised to particular individuals (Gn 16:11; Jgs 13:3). The young woman: Hebrew ‘almah designates a young woman of marriageable age without specific reference to virginity. The Septuagint translated the Hebrew term as parthenos, which normally does mean virgin, and this translation underlies Mt 1:23. Emmanuel: the name means “with us is God.” Since for the Christian the incarnation is the ultimate expression of God’s willingness to “be with us,” it is understandable that this text was interpreted to refer to the birth of Christ.1
In Psalm 40 obedience is declared to be better than sacrifice.
* [40:7–9] Obedience is better than sacrifice (cf. 1 Sm 15:22; Is 1:10–20; Hos 6:6; Am 5:22–25; Mi 6:6–8; Acts 7:42–43 [quoting Am 5:25–26]). Heb 10:5–9 quotes the somewhat different Greek version and interprets it as Christ’s self-oblation.2
The Letter to the Hebrews uses a passage from Psalm 40 in the mouth of the Son at his incarnation.
* [10:5–7] A passage from Ps 40:7–9 is placed in the mouth of the Son at his incarnation. As usual, the author follows the Septuagint text. There is a notable difference in Heb 10:5 (Ps 40:6), where the Masoretic text reads “ears you have dug for me” (“ears open to obedience you gave me,” NAB), but most Septuagint manuscripts have “a body you prepared for me,” a reading obviously more suited to the interpretation of Hebrews.3
In the Gospel from Luke the announcement of the Birth of Jesus results from the “yes” of Mary.
* [1:36–37] The sign given to Mary in confirmation of the angel’s announcement to her is the pregnancy of her aged relative Elizabeth. If a woman past the childbearing age could become pregnant, why, the angel implies, should there be doubt about Mary’s pregnancy, for nothing will be impossible for God.4
Amy Hoover explores the concept of being chosen and her belief that we are all chosen by God simply in our being created.
Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
When we pray with Mary, some of the questions that rise up include: Who is she? Why was she chosen? What was special about her? Since we are bringing Christ to the world, maybe it is important to take a minute and ask ourselves those questions. So, today, I invite us to spend some time contemplating how we are called, each of us, individually and uniquely to bring Christ to the world.5
Don Schwager quotes “Do you wish to be great?”, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
"Just imagine the incredible kindness and mercy! He was the only Son, but He did not want to remain alone. So that humans might be born of God God was born of humans. Begotten of God is He through Whom we were created - Born of a woman is He through Whom we are to be re-created. The Word first wished to be born of humans, so that you might be assured of being born of God" (excerpt from Sermon on John 2, 13)6
The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 1:26-38 asks us to consider what our God has done for us. He will continue to do it for every person who says yes to God, as Mary did, until he comes again. So on this glorious feast, we are invited to tell Jesus how grateful you are for his coming to earth, and for living his own personal history—and yours!
Jesus is here with you as you read these words. He was with you when you woke up this morning, and he will be with you when you go to sleep tonight. He goes to work with you, and he cares for your family. Through every joy and sorrow of life, through every major and minor event, in all of your prayers for help and all of your words of praise and thanksgiving, he is there. And because he lives in you, he is present to everyone around you. He reaches out in love to everyone you encounter each day.7
Gerard J. Hughes SJ, tutor in philosophy at Campion Hall, University of Oxford, offers two very different points of view from which one can contemplate the Annunciation. From one angle, the aim is to understand, to penetrate, to grasp the transcendent mystery beneath what, on the surface, is very ordinary. From the other point of view, the aim is to recover a sense of the very ordinariness of the events which bore so much theological weight.
If we will but listen, God can speak to us in many ways at the most ordinary times. Lent is a time for listening. The decorations of Christmas, the splendour of all those medieval depictions of the Annunciation, these are now behind us. The grey ordinariness of the Campion Hall Annunciation serves to remind us that we have to find God in all things, that we can find God in all things, however uninspiring or mundane or difficult. Yet again this Lent we need to learn that the key to a living faith is prayer, just as love for her son may have been what unlocked that faith for Mary. When, yet again, we have learned that truth, we can each in our own way rediscover with delight the presence of God which lurks hidden in our unremarkable worlds. Then, like Mary, in our hearts we too can respond to that presence and sing our personal Magnificat; ‘My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.’8
Friar Jude Winkler makes many allusions to the events of our salvation history in his commentary on the Annunciation. Mary, is the handmaid paradigm for our spiritual life. Friar Jude connects the experience of Mary to our understanding of the Ark of the Covenant and the Immaculate Conception.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, observes that the journey from order to disorder to reorder must happen for all of us; it is not something just to be admired in Abraham, Moses, Job, or Jesus. Our role is to listen and allow, and at least slightly cooperate with this almost natural progression.
This “pilgrim’s progress” was, for me, sequential, natural, and organic as the circles widened. I was steadily moved toward larger viewpoints and greater inclusivity in my ideas, a deeper understanding of people, and a more honest sense of justice. If God could include and allow, then why couldn’t I? If God asked me to love unconditionally and universally, then it was clear that God operated in the same way. This process of transformation was slow, and none of it happened without much prayer, self-doubt, study, and conversation.9
In our journey, our realization of the personal impact of the Incarnation in our lives generates praise to God and thanksgiving for saying “yes” to His will.
References
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(n.d.). Isaiah 7:10 - usccb. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/isaiah7.htm
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(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 40 - usccb. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/40
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(n.d.). V. Examples, Discipline, Disobedience - usccb. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/hebrews10.htm
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(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - OnlineMinistries - Creighton University. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
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(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
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(n.d.). The Annunciation of the Lord (Solemnity) - Mass Readings and .... Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/03/25
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(2017, March 24). Between doctrine and discipleship: reflections on the Annunciation .... Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/between-doctrine-and-discipleship-reflections-annunciation
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(n.d.). Daily Meditations Archive: March 2019 - Daily Meditations Archives .... Retrieved March 25, 2019, from https://cac.org/category/daily-meditations/2019/03/
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