The Solemnity of the Annunciation
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “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.”
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
What would it be like to be visited by an angel? Scripture tells us “some [people] have unknowingly entertained angels,” like Gideon or Tobiah, because angels can appear on earth in human disguise. But if you ever saw an angel in unveiled glory this spiritual creature would not be a winged Precious Moments character like some people imagine. As C.S. Lewis writes in the preface of his book The Screwtape Letters:
In the plastic arts [the symbolic representations of angels] have steadily degenerated. Fra Angelico’s angels carry in their face and gesture the peace and authority of Heaven. Later come the chubby infantile nudes of Raphael; finally the soft, slim, girlish and consolatory angels of nineteenth-century art… They are a pernicious symbol. In Scripture the visitation of an angel is always alarming; it has to begin by saying “Fear not.” The Victorian angel looks as if it were going to say “There, there.”
When the Archangel Gabriel came and greeted the Virgin Mary in Nazareth, “she was greatly troubled.” He must calm and reassure her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” His message from Heaven is a weighty and mysterious one: you shall conceive and bear the Messiah, the Christ, who is both the heir to David’s kingdom and the Son of Almighty God. Mary has apparently made a prior vow to remain a virgin within her current marriage to Joseph, for she questions how she would ever conceive apart from relations with a man. Gabriel explains this will be through the power of God, for whom all things are possible. Even this answer leaves a great deal unrevealed.
It’s natural for Mary to feel anxious. She has heard God’s promises but much remains uncertain for her near and distant future: Will Joseph believe her? How should she parent such a Holy Child? How will Jesus become king? What will happen to her? How long or difficult will her life be? God’s full plan is unknown to Mary, but she knows what to do for that moment. She says, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Through this faithful, trusting response, Jesus Christ saves his Church, the Virgin Mary becomes the Most Blessed, and every generation is blessed.
It’s natural to feel anxious now. We have received God’s promises but much remains uncertain about our near and distant future. Follow Mary’s example and entrust your life to God’s will, so that you may be the most blessed and a great multitude may be blessed through you.
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