[ Today's Readings ]
The LORD spoke to Ahaz:
Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But we don't ask. We know that we are bad at asking for signs. We ask for signs mostly for selfish reasons. They make great entertainment or maybe even give us something we want. We ask God to prove himself and to be subject to our terms. We do this out of fear and doubt. We may eventually give up on signs at all. But God does use signs. He uses them because he wants to communicate to us. It is no abstract idea that he wants to share, either. He wants to communicate himself.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel.
God uses signs to make himself known. These aren't risky like the other signs because they don't pad our egos. They don't stem from a place of fear. In fact, these signs require that we set aside our pride in order to receive them.
“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.
These signs seem dangerous at first. Mary has plans for her life based on her idea of who she is. Now her role in God's plan is revealed and everything is changed. We can see that the sign of her Son is not something she demands from a place of pride. It is rather something she is able to welcome from a place of humility. Pride would demand things on her terms in a way that she can understand. And she emphatically does not demand anything at all as she accepts God's terms.
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.
Let us expect that God has signs he wants us to see as well. Emmanuel means God with us. God wants to communicate himself to us. He wants to be closer to us than we are to the person next to us. In a mystical way, he wants to be closer to us than we are even to ourselves. Let us lay aside pride and fear so that we can welcome the signs God wants to give us. Let us be prepared to welcome Emmanuel. He wants us to know more deeply the reality of who he is. He wants us to let him come ever closer. The incarnation proves this. The Eucharist proves this. And he isn't done yet.
He shall receive a blessing from the LORD,
a reward from God his savior.
Such is the race that seeks for him,
that seeks the face of the God of Jacob.
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