Gospel Reflection For The 8th day of April in the year of Our Lord, 2024
Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
Gospel
Luke 1:26-38
26 And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
31 Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. 33 And of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? 35 And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
36 And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: 37 Because no word shall be impossible with God. 38 And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
I think it is important to take note that we celebrate the Annunciation so soon after Easter, and before Pentecost. Of course, historic events need not follow the order that would allow us to read them more contextually. But, we must keep in our minds that the story begins with the Annunciation and finds its fulfillment in Easter and Pentecost. Of course, we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas, but it is the death and resurrection and the birth of the Church that saves us. All of these events though, begin with the assent of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
God chose to come into the world for our salvation through a woman… a girl, really by our modern concept of age. While she was human and humility would be her defining characteristic, she was not “just a human like all of us,” as Protestants maintain. Our Lord chose her before all ages. It was necessary that many generations come together in specific relationships of marriage and family for her to be of the lineage promised in today’s first reading in which the prophet, Isaiah tells Ahaz, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means “God is with us!” Jesus was to be born of the House of David, in a specific place and of a virgin. None of this could happen by chance. Each aspect, and more, depended on the Hand of God acting throughout centuries. Moreover, Mary would be the only person since our first parents to be born without original sin. This is what is termed, The Immaculate Conception. While Mary was human in every way she, and she alone would be born as a pure vessel to carry our Lord. Just as nothing impure can enter heaven, God will enter nothing impure. Baptism, which is necessary for the Christian for God to come to dwell within the Christian, cleanses us of original sin. The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, that Protestants reject, is necessary for the birth of Christ. Had Mary just been like anyone else, we would have no Jesus and no salvation through Jesus.
But, that is not all that was necessary. Because God gives to every man and woman free will, it was necessary for Mary to say yes! God would not force her. Imagine, for a moment, if Mary had said no. God would have respected her free will and we would have no Savior. The fate of the entire universe hung on the assent of a teenage girl! And, still, you think that Mary was just like us?! Imagine, for a moment, being so devout that by the age of 14 or so, you had already decided to live a life of chastity and religious devotion. Well, I sure didn’t and neither did any of the girls I went to school with… and let’s just say that chastity did not come naturally or easily to me and although I strive to live by the teachings of the Church now, I’m still hoping to meet the right lady and have a family in my 40s! Now, imagine an angel appears and tells you that you will just suddenly become pregnant. You will be suspected of being promiscuous. You will likely be rejected and ridiculed by family and friends. If you agree, you could be an absolute outcast… and what will you tell your father? Mary had no foreknowledge. She did not know how things would turn out. She must have been terrified…. And, perhaps God even gave her a sense of the immense suffering that would come. Still, she said yes. That is amazing! That, alone makes her deserving of all our respect and regard as the greatest saint of all time.
That said, we truly only understand what the Mother of God means to each of us as Christians when we realize, that Jesus came to earth through Mary. Jesus comes to each of us through Mary. Without Mary, there is no Jesus. All of the blessings Jesus bestows to us and especially our individual salvation comes through Mary. I do not know why so many Protestants denigrate both the Blessed Virgin Mary and the devotion Catholics have for her. Do they think they please our Lord by insulting His mother or those who love her? We owe Jesus our love and worship. We also owe to His mother our love and gratitude. Through Mary, we have Jesus. Through Jesus, Mary became holy. Through both, we share in the holiness of the Family of God.
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Gospel passages are taken from the Douay Rheims Bible.