It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats take away sins.
For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said:
“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, ‘As is written of me in the scroll, behold, I come to do your will, O God.’”
We can neither celebrate the Annunciation of the Lord in Holy Week or Easter Week, nor forget it altogether, and so we celebrate it on the first available weekday after Easter; namely, today.
And the feast reminds us that our Risen Lord was born a human being like us in every way (and did not sin), and that he could not save us were he not to suffer all the weakness, frailty, and embarrassing messiness of a human body. He came to do God's will with the same willingness that you and I bring to our everyday duties, chores, and extra-mile contributions to the well being of others. If there was a difference between the intensity of his total generosity and ours, it was essentially the same thing. Like us, he came to do God's will.
The sources of that willingness were first, his obedience to the Father; and secondly, the Holy Spirit which energized and directed him. Nor could he obey the Father and follow the Spirit without a human body identical to ours. He was not a phantom pretending to be human, to heal the sick and announce Good News to the poor. He did so with the same "tool" with which we're provided. Namely, a human body with all its grace, strength, and limitations.
There are those who agree that the Lord saved us in his human body but, resurrected, no longer needs human flesh. They say his human nature dissolved into his divinity as he ascended to the Father's right hand. He is neither Jew nor Greek; male or female, slave nor free, rich or poor. He has neither race nor nationality. They misuse and repurpose Saint Paul's marvelous insight into the Church.
Jesus remains a Jew by birth as most Christians are Jewish by adoption. And he remains a male because normal human beings are born either male or female. A hermaphrodite could not save us for that rare disorder would severely impair his human nature.
On this feast we thank God for the Lord's human nature; and we thank the young woman who was so willing to serve the Lord with the womanly body the Lord had prepared for her.
And we thank God for the same Holy Spirit that guided and animated the Lord and his Blessed Mother. If we have impaired our willingness by sin we are nonetheless reassured that sin is born of our will and not by our nature. Created in God's image, we have the same marvelous capacity of Mary and Jesus to take up our crosses each day and follow in their footsteps.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.