Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The scene that Luke puts before us today is simply breathtaking and should give us pause. Here we have a young woman in the last few years prior the Common Era who is engaged to be married. She is a virgin, and it’s crucial that she remain that way so that she may enter legitimately into that marriage. One day, as her wedding approaches, an angel (of all things) shows up and says “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!” She responds fearfully and is “greatly troubled” by this encounter.
Luke’s characterization of her reaction seems something of an understatement. If an angel suddenly appeared in my house and “hailed” me, I’d be terrified! It’s one thing to pray and take the Eucharist and confess your sins and repent—but to find yourself face-to-face with an actual angel, a messenger of God. What the heck does an angel want with me, I’d be wondering. And worrying.
It turns out that what this angel wanted with Mary was no small thing. This was no guardian angel checking in to make sure all is well with her. On the contrary. He’s got news from God himself. And this news is threatening, absolutely life changing, and scary.
First, Gabriel tells her that she is going conceive and bear a son. And her soon-to-be husband isn’t going to be the father. What? She had to be thinking, what are you talking about. I can’t bear a son by someone else. I need to be a virgin when I wed. If I’m not and he finds out, which he surely will, he won’t marry me. My whole life will be in ruins!
In the course of just a few moments (which must have felt like something of an eternity), Mary is trying to work this out in her head. So, she asks a crucial question about the logistics: How is this happening since she is and intends to remain a virgin? To this the angel replies, no problem—the “Holy Spirit will come down upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
Yikes! I don’t know about you, but when I first learned about the “birds and the bees” I freaked out! I thought sex sounded disgusting and frightening. Imagine trying to conjure up in your mind how one is going to conceive a son by way of the Holy Spirit coming down on you along with the Most High who is going to “overshadow” you? What are we talking about here?
As if to suggest this will all be just fine, Gabriel tells her that a relative of hers, who apparently is old, has also conceived a son and is six months pregnant. How exactly that is supposed to comfort Mary, I’m not at all sure. I suppose she might think, well at least I won’t be trying to give birth as an old woman. That’s not much consolation for a young woman who knows very well that she is almost certainly looking at being abandoned by her fiancé and becoming a single mother and something of a major scandal in her village.
With all this bearing down upon her, what does she do? She says, sure thing! “May it be done to me according to your word.” What?
How is it that Mary was able to respond with such incredible faith to this terrifying and absolutely life-changing message from God?
In this story, we encounter an incredible young woman who had taken the prophet’s command to prepare the way of the Lord most seriously. Clearly, she had prepared herself to answer God’s call, whenever it would come, with a yes. How else could she have responded to such a word so quickly and with such confidence and peace.
This Advent season, may we be inspired by the faith of this young woman anticipating an event that is going to upend her whole life. May we do the work of prayer and self-examination and counsel with trusted loved ones so that we may prepared to answer God’s call, whenever it comes (and it will in one way or another), so that we too will be able to say in confidence and in peace—thy will be done. Amen.
- Sue Trollinger