Word to the Wise
Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - The Annunciation of the Lord (Second Sending)
[Isaiah 7::10-14; 8:10; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38]The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.
Six days ago, on the feast of St. Joseph, I spoke of what I consider the "forgotten annunciation," - the one in the Gospel of Matthew - which features Joseph! Today the church celebrates the more familiar annunciation (exactly nine months before December 25, of course - God can be precise!) Naturally and traditionally, we think of Mary and the Angel, but notice the title of the feast: The Annunciation of the LORD! Like Joseph, Mary is an important figure in a much greater drama! To borrow an image from THE HOLY LONGING by Ron Rolheiser, OMI, this celebration reminds us that God "puts skin on" God's promises! The scripture from Isaiah is one of many statements of that promise in the Old Testament. The Incarnation is that "skin." (Lest I get in dogmatic trouble, I mean more than just an outer covering like a mere costume. I mean total humanity!) Tradition would put it: Body and soul, blood and divinity! Yes, that is the mystery! Yes, Mary is mystified, as are all of us, by it. The angel adds on the bit about Elizabeth, perhaps as a way of saying "just in case you think God can't do this, look at your surprising cousin!" Lots of worries came from this day, which we learned about from Joseph's annunciation! It takes a lot of faith to accept the proposition: "for nothing will be impossible for God." Ultimately, if we cannot accept that, we may as well find something else to do on Sunday. AMEN