Luke 1:26-38
We’ve just read the passage about the Annunciation. Let’s think about that for a moment. She was betrothed to Joseph. In those days among the Jewish people betrothal was an agreement between parents -- the parents of the bride and groom, or possibly the groom himself if he were of age. But betrothal took place very early in the life of a woman, even as early as the age of 12. And if she and Joseph had not yet consummated their marriage, as the gospel indicates, it was for one of two reasons; either Joseph had not yet built a home and established himself in a profession that could support a family, or Mary was considered too young to bear a child.
In this situation, the angel Gabriel appeared to her. And it says that Mary was greatly troubled. I’m sure you remember when the angel appeared to Zachary announcing that he would have a son. Luke describes that event as well, but says Zachary was troubled, not greatly troubled. Mary, who is very young, illiterate, a woman and unmarried is just about as low as you can get in Jewish society -- not as low as a leper, perhaps, but pretty low. And she is approached by an angel, who tries to reassure her that she has found favor with God, that the Lord is with her. But that does not take away her being troubled.
The angel goes on to elaborate: YOu will conceive a son, you will call him Jesus (which means savior), He will be great, He will be the Son of God, He will sit on David’s throne, he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will have no end. Seven promises, seven unbelievable promises.
But Mary still hesitates. “How can this be,” she asks. And the angel answers, “the Holy Spirit will do it. And, seeing that Mary’s hesitation persists, he goes on to tell her that Elizabeth who is too old to have a child has conceived; something impossible has been done. And that’s when Mary says, “Behold,I am the handmaid of the Lord. and there’s one translation of the Greek words that I like, “Do to me what you say you will do.” It is when Mary learns that her old relative will be going through the same thing as her that she is finally ready to accept what the angel is offering. If you were reading the section of Luke’s Gospel just before the Annunciation to Mary, you would read the Annunciation to Zachary. We can forgive a twelve year old girl for being hesitant; iti’s harder to forgive an elderly priest like Zachary who has been praying all his life for a child and when told that his prayers were finally answered, refuses to believe God’s messenger.
So what does Mary’s story say to you and I? Our second reading today is from the ve3ry end of the epistle of Paul to the Romans. If you want to know what God has in store for us, Romans is a good place to look. Basically, Paul talks about God building up Christ in his people -- as with Mary God wants to conceive his Son in each of us, through the Holy Spirit; or to put it another way, wants to transform each of us into his son or daughter. And Romans is full of God’s promises to those who allow this to take place.
But despite all the promises, it’s still a scary thing, just as it was for Mary. If I allow God to take over my life, I won’t be in control anymore. What about my plans, my ambitions? Or as Saint Augustine said, “Lord, make me chaste, but not just yet.” In the face of the power of the Holy Spirit, we are afraid of losing ourselves completely -- and Paul even tells us that our destiny is to be a new creation.
So, how do we overcome those barriers that we ourselves erect? Again, it’s interesting to look at Zachary, who was struck mute when he did not believe. God will have his way, even if it hurts us. Zachary had given his life to God, as a priest, but something held him back from complete trust. On the other hand, Mary is convinced when she learns that someone she knows, someone she is probably very close to, her cousin, is going to be accompanying her on this journey that Joseph could never understand because only a woman can understand what a woman goes through to have a child. And I think that sometimes we really need that -- a companion in our efforts to become holy, a friend who will walk with us as we allow the Holy Spirit to transform us. In short, as many saints have pointed out, and many have demonstrated, the path to holiness is made easier if you have a friend walking on the same path with you.
So let us resolve to find someone like that in our lives if we don’t already have such a companion. And certainly we can ask the Angel Gabriel to reveal that person to us as he did to Mary.
