Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
Today’s readings lead up to the Annunciation to Mary that she will conceive and bear Jesus. The first reading from Isaiah foretells that the child will be called Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews reminds us that salvation comes not from our sacrifices and actions but from the saving love of Christ on the cross. This message seems appropriate as we continue our Lenten journeys; it reminds us that it is not our actions or abstentions themselves but that toward which they are pointed--the Passion of Christ--that matters. Finally, the Gospel reading is familiar, so familiar that we might miss how wonderful it is.
There are two things going on in this Gospel reading: one is about the Incarnation, the God made flesh in Jesus Christ. The other is about the faith of Mary. We would do well to remember that God chose to work things out this way. It would have been just as possible for it to happen another way, for salvation to come some other way. But this is the way God chooses. What is its significance? The image of a pregnant Mary and later, the baby Jesus, speak to the beauty and mystery of the Incarnation itself. When God takes flesh in Christ, he takes it completely. He takes it on so completely that he is undergoes those fundamentally human things: he is a baby crying to be fed, he is a teenager searching to find his identity (Luke 2:41), he is a man dealing with the death of a friend (John 11). What the angel announces to Mary, then, is nothing short of amazing: the Creator of the Universe and Source of All Being takes on our existence, transforming us into a new creation.
In turn, Mary’s response is nothing short of amazing either: a poor (very) young woman accepts on faith the revelation to her that she has been chosen to play this role in God’s plan of salvation. She appears confused at first but in the end, she chooses faith. Her faith, however, does not exist in a vacuum. Indeed, she is following the faith of her forebears, of Moses and Abraham, who in their own stories of revelation chose to submit their wills to God’s. Mary knew that God keeps his promises to Israel, and she also knew to expect the unexpected. She stands, then, in the line of people with whom God has made his covenant, and is filled with the grace to accept her role as the Mother of God.
These readings seem to remind us about the goal of Lent. They remind us about the incredible gift of the Incarnation and about Mary’s faith, so that we remain joyful in the saving work of Christ and that we might desire steadfastness as the season goes on.
- Katherine Schmidt