Word to the Wise
Monday, April 4, 2016 - March 25 - The Annunciation of the Lord
[Isa 7:10-14; 8:10; Heb 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38]"Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus." [Luke]
Jesus will be born a bit prematurely in 2016. The liturgical feast of the Annunciation usually occurs on March 25, precisely nine months before his liturgical birthday on December 25! However, the moon is no respecter of liturgical calendars. Easter is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon of Spring, which meant that Easter Sunday would be March 27 this year. That, in turn, meant that March 25 would be Good Friday! There's a lot of coincidental irony in the event: the date of his conception became the date of his death in 2016! Nothing daunted, the liturgical powers-that-be, simply moved the feast safely beyond Holy Week, Easter Sunday and the Octave of Easter. So, Jesus will be born prematurely by about two weeks on December 25 (instead of January 4 in the natural course of things).
None of the liturgical calendar arrangements need bother us unduly except to underline a bit more a feast that often escapes much attention because it usually falls in Lent. The scene is a powerful one that artists down through the centuries have loved to portray. The focus in those portrayals is on Mary and the Angel, but the title of the feast is "the Annunciation OF THE LORD." The incarnation the Second Person of the Holy Trinity becomes a tiny speck in the womb of a young Jewish woman in a rural town in Galilee. That amazing event is God's intervention in human history and it starts very humbly and inauspiciously.
I recommend reading today not just the account of the angel's visit but the rest of the story up to and including the announcement to the shepherds of Jesus' birth. This will help keep a bigger picture in mind. We may just forget that premature birth and appreciate even more what God has done for us! AMEN
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