Word to the Wise
Monday, March 25, 2019 - 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 in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there will be no end." [Luke]
If the liturgical calendar has anything to say about it, Jesus was born right on schedule, on December 25, nine months to the day after March 25! That kind of formal precision should not blind us to the drama in the scene as told by the evangelist, Luke. The message of the angel, after telling Mary not to be afraid, would be enough to terrify anyone, let alone a Jewish girl in Palestine, looking forward to marriage. The Gospel According to Matthew assures us that Joseph was informed as well. The same admonition was given to him, "Do not be afraid..." But, the awkwardness of Mary's pregnancy would have been enough to scare them both. There would plenty more for them to be frightened about in the life of Jesus: a nighttime trip to Egypt to escape Herod and a disappearance on a trip to Jerusalem just for beginners.
The celebration of the feast of the Annunciation of the Lord can remind us that the lives of Mary and Joseph were dramatically changed by God's intervention. It took a deep faith and trust to go forward, not knowing what would happen. The great English spiritual writer, Evelyn Underhill, once wrote that faith is like going down a dark tunnel when you don't know where the light switches are. Yes, the theological importance of the Incarnation, which is central to this feast, should be remembered. But the impact on the characters of Mary and Joseph deserve our compassion and our reflection on how God may be intervening in our own lives. AMEN