“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.
The angel Gabriel appeared, greeting Mary as though she were a personification of the daughter of Zion, calling her to rejoice. But rather than calling her by her name he addressed her as full of grace, as though her very identity was that she had been and continued to be full of this grace. And while it is true that "grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (see John 1:17) it was not necessarily true that this was only possible after the incarnation. It had in fact already been this grace which allowed great Old Testament prophets to be holy. It was clear that Jesus was in some way present throughout history. He prepared his mother for his own coming, applying the grace he would one day win for the world to her at the moment of her conception. And she responded by continuing in that grace throughout her life. But if Mary was called to rejoice and was celebrated as full of grace so too are we her children called to rejoice as she did and to allow Jesus to fill us with his grace as much as we are able. The blessings given to Mary were not given for herself alone, it was, but was not merely, an instance of Jesus honoring his mother as the Law commanded. In a way this was like when God blessed Abraham while knowing it would eventually overflow even to the Gentiles. He knew that the blessings given to this chosen handmade would overflow for the whole world. She was given special grace to be the mother of Jesus, but not only that, to be the mother of all of those who believed in him and kept his commandments (see Revelation 12:17).
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.
Despite her closeness to God and the grace in which she walked she was not born with advanced knowledge of how the Lord would use her. In fact, in her great humility, she would have never assumed or imagined so exulted a role for herself as God in fact intended for her. There was the possibility that even her perfect heart could fear that such a prospect was simply too great for her. But this heart was also one that could not doubt when an angel told her that there was nothing to fear.
How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?
Unlike with Zechariah, Mary's question was not a doubt. Doubts and legitimate questions could appear very similar on the surface but their motivations were completely different. Doubts were the result of a lack of trust. But questions showed the desire to learn in order to conform oneself to God's plan. As Saint John Henry Newman said, "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt". Mary wanted to know the details of the plan since it seemed to conflict with prior promises she had made. She knew how children were usually conceived and had no expectation that it could happen this way in her case. Indeed the way it was to come about was something she never could have guessed.
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.
The Holy Spirit would come upon her in such a way as to make of her a new tabernacle, a new ark of the covenant, containing the presence of God in a new and more complete way than ever before. As with the old ark she was able to bring this presence to others, as she was soon to do for Elizabeth, and as she continues to do in our own day. It was, admittedly, a lot to take in. But in spite of that she was receptive to the angel's words in a way that was only possible because of the grace with which she had been prepared, which in a way had been given especially for that particular moment.
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
It was at that very moment that the child who would be "called Son of the Most High" and who would sit on "the throne of David his father" and "rule over the house of Jacob forever" was conceived in her womb. Not to downplay Christmas, but it is really today's Solemnity of the Annunciation that is the feast of the incarnation of the Lord. At Christmas he showed his face to the world. But it was at the moment that Mary gave her 'Yes' to God that the Word became flesh.
What are we to make of all of this? Is Mary merely an outlier with no relevance to our lives? Far from it. She calls us to rejoices, teaches us how to open ourselves to the grace of God, and brings to us the presence of her Son. She desires that we say 'Yes' to him in the way that she did, completely and without reserve.
John Michael Talbot - Holy Is His Name
No comments:
Post a Comment