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Today we celebrate one of the church’s great feats: the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God. Every year, spring arrives, and the days get longer. At that time, as the light and life arrive with the spring equinox, we celebrate this feast and remember the light and life that comes into the world: Jesus himself, fully God and fully Man. We commemorate the message of the world’s salvation which the angel Gabriel brought to Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ. We celebrate with special hymns. We relax our Lenten fast and self-denial. Our penitence is lightened by the joy of the feast. Today we praise her who heard the word of God and kept it.
At least, that’s the idea. We know we are supposed to be celebrating and praising the mother of God. But in the midst of our hectic everyday life, this event, which happened over two thousand years ago, seems so distant sometimes. Does this story mean anything? Does it change my life in any way? Can this story of a heavenly messenger appearing to a young woman be important to us? Or is this simply a nice story to remember every March 25?
Let’s look again at the story of the Annunciation. It is found in the gospel of Luke, chapter 1. God sent the angel Gabriel to bring a message to Mary in Nazareth. Mary was a young woman, a virgin, who was betrothed to Joseph. Her virginity, one of the fathers tells us, shows us the divine nature of the child she bore. Her betrothal to Joseph preserved her from slander, and shows us God’s protection of Mary.
Gabriel appeared to Mary and said, “Rejoice, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” At hearing this, Scripture tells us, Mary was troubled. She wondered who this was who appeared to her. Was it a messenger of God? Or was this a vision of the evil one, who can appear like an angel of light? Was she being tempted by the serpent, as Eve was in the Garden of Eden? In her humility, Mary did not presume that she was worthy to be visited by an angel.
Gabriel answered her doubts, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” Then he proclaimed the good news of the salvation of the world. “…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will be no end.” This message of the coming of the Messiah and the salvation of the world had been spoken before by the prophets, by Moses and Isaiah and the others. The prophets spoke in images and metaphors that were not always understood. But this time was the first time that the good news had been spoken so directly. Mary was the first one to hear the gospel proclaimed plainly.
Gabriel made known God’s will to Mary. God’s will is that all the world should be saved by union of the divine nature with the human nature in the person of Jesus Christ. One of the hymns of the feast expresses this beautifully: “Today is revealed the mystery that is from all eternity. The Son of God becomes the Son of Man that, sharing in what is worse, He may make me share in what is better.” By sharing in the human nature, God makes us able to share in the divine nature. We can become like God, as he became like us. He took on our hunger and thirst, weariness and even death. So we can take on his uprightness, courage, holiness, and immortality. Most importantly, we can grow in his love toward Him and our neighbor.
Again Mary wondered, saying “How shall this be, since I have no husband.” She said this not because of doubt in the Angel’s message, but out of her humility. She did not presume to be worthy of so great a miracle. The divine creator of all things dwells in the womb of a virgin. This is beyond our comprehension, and was beyond Mary’s comprehension.
The angel continues, “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.”
Mary answered “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” Whatever her human reservations, doubts, or fears, she submitted her will entirely to God’s will. She heard the word of God and kept it. Because she said “yes” to God’s word, she bore Christ within her, and brought salvation to the world.
This story tells us about Mary’s holiness. Her sanctity comes from both God’s grace and her cooperation. We praise her willingness which helped bring Christ into the world for our salvation. It is fitting to praise the Mother of God for her holiness, and for the love that she continues to show to those who ask her help.
And yet Jesus himself gives us guidance in how to praise her. Later in Jesus’s ministry (Luke 11.27-28), as he preached to a crowd of disciples, one of them cried out “Blessed is she who gave you birth, and she who raised you.” Jesus did not deny these words of praise of his mother, but he did correct the intention a little bit. He said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”
In our celebration of this feast, we praise the Mother of God, as did this disciple of Jesus. But we also take heed to Jesus’s words. All those who hear the word of God and keep it imitate Mary, and are blessed. By hearing the word and following, we too are blessed.
This feast is not merely the celebration of an event that happened long ago. We follow Mary’s example by hearing the word of God and keeping it. We listen for the word of God in our lives, are willing to do what He asks. None of us are asked to do what Mary was asked to do. But when we lay aside our will and surrender to Him, we begin to do what He asks of us. We become like God as he became like us. We begin to live, not so that we can fulfill our every desire, but so that we can give love to those around us. We show by our words and our actions, the love of Christ himself.
By saying “yes” to God’s will, Mary bore Christ within her womb. We also, by saying “yes” to God’s will instead of our petty desires, bear Christ in our hearts. As Mary brought Christ into the world by giving him birth, we bring Christ into the world through our love.
How can we properly celebrate this feast? We take a moment at the beginning of each day to listen for God’s word. We ask “What does Christ ask of me today? How can I bear Christ’s love within myself?” If we are willing to set aside our own desires we imitate Mary. Like her we say, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
(This was given as a homily at Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church in Yonkers, New York on March 25, 2012)
