Word to the Wise
Monday, December 20, 2021 - December 20
[Isa 7:10-14 and Luke 1:26-38]Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary men, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel. [Isaiah] "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]
The story of the event we call "the annuncation," like the one we call "the visitation," can challenge our meditation on many levels. For those who want to dive in deeply, I strongly recommend Fr. Raymond Brown's THE BIRTH OF THE MESSIAH. He also wrote a kind of summary in AN ADULT CHRIST AT CHRISTMAS. It is easy to adopt a sentimental interpretation of the annunciation event, and nothing wrong with doing that, but even that approach should alert us to the challenges that would face the young Jewish woman who found herself in a unique position, to say the least!
The virginal conception of Jesus is part of our faith, but it is not essential to this scene. The angel simply tells her, "For nothing will be impossible with God." What is more important is the status of the One to whom she will give birth. The titles mentioned by Gabriel carry a lot of Old Testament weight. The evangelist Luke modeled the scene on the example of Hannah in 1 Samuel 2. The lineage with David is also mentioned. The role of the Holy Spirit, a strong theme throughout the Gospel According to Luke, is also present. Mary's consent and cooperative obedience to God's plan are strong themes in the Mariological traditions of the church.
We can meditate on the scene of the annunciation as depicted by the great Dominican artist, Fra Angelico on the wall of San Marco priory in Florence (1440-45) and find great benefit from that. But his art is the door to the deeper meanings awaiting us. The "wonder of the Incarnation" is a reminder to us that "nothing shall be impossible with God." AMEN