Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

 Lectionary: 545

“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.

A friend of mine raised goats for their wool, milk, and meat. Her husband was not terribly reliable and she managed to put food on the table with this cottage industry.

She told me that local folks were eager to buy her cheese. Learning she'd recently acquired another female yearling, one lady asked how soon she might have milk. 

My friend replied that the doeling would have to mature, be impregnated, and have her own baby goats. The nanny would then produce milk. 

"Oh!" She said, "I hadn't thought of that." 

Nor can we celebrate the Virgin Birth of the Savior if there is neither conception nor gestation in the Virgin's womb. And so we celebrate the Annunciation.   

It's perhaps shocking to some people that the Son of God should be born of a woman, that the Lord should have to go through the messy, uncertain processes of conception, gestation, and birth. What's more: the Messiah's mother is not afforded the best natal care humankind can offer. In fact, she is a poor young woman, betrothed but unwed, living in perilous times. There is social unrest, economic instability, and political upheaval as an insanely jealous King Herod governs the region. 

Wouldn't it be better, some people think, if God were just to appear, stage the drama of passion, death, and resurrection, and then ascend back to his secure seat at God's right hand? Without all the drama?

Often, when I have met former Catholics in the VA hospital, I have wanted to remind them of something they might have never known: our teachings are so beautiful! I have seen the images hurled by Hollywood, television, and the Internet. I have heard gorgeous music sung on the Metropolitan Opera stage. None of that is half so wonderful, fascinating, darkly mysterious, or pleasing as the doctrine of the Incarnation. It is matched only by companion mysteries like Grace, the Trinity, and the Humility of God. 

It is necessary that Our Savior should be a human being, born of a woman, born under the law. It is necessary that he should endure our weakness, frailty, and vulnerability; and that he should perish at our hands like so many other victims of crime. He must surrender to his enemies that we might worship his Father. 

Without the Incarnation, we might know the story -- the legend of Jesus -- but it would have no power to save us. People would say, "I'll try to be like the hero Jesus." But they would lack conviction for, without the Incarnation, it is only a story. One's human spirit might be willing but without the Divine Spirit the flesh could not be bothered. 

In the Incarnation, we discover we can do the impossible. We forgive our enemies; we give more than we can afford; we go the extra mile. As Gabriel explained to Mary in today's gospel, "...nothing will be impossible for God.” 

There is a RUSH in this grace and I'm pretty sure it's infinitely superior to winning the lottery, racing a Harley-Davidson or discharging an AR-15. Its satisfactions confound the wealthy; its freedoms surpass the flight of a swallow. 

More importantly, this grace empowers us to wait with confidence as the gestation of human history moves toward rebirth. It might be a very long time but it's no wait at all, as Saint Paul said:

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.

For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God;

for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it, in hope

that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;

and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.