The
Annunciation: Why Mary said Yes to God!
What
does annunciation mean, anyway? Well, according to the Free Online Dictionary:
an·nun·ci·a·tion (-nns-shn)
n.
1. The
act of announcing.
2. An
announcement; a proclamation.
3. Annunciation Christianity
a. The
angel Gabriel's announcement to the Virgin Mary of the Incarnation.
b. The
feast celebrating this event.
c. March
25, the day on which this feast is observed.
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In
the Catholic Church, it is a Feast usually observed on March 25th of every
year, but this year, due to Holy Week falling on that day, it was moved to
April 8th. So today we observed a full Mass for the Solemnity of the
Annunciation of the Lord. The readings reminded me of a talk I gave to the
Ladies of our church a couple years ago, and decided I might be able to get two
posts out of it. We shall see where this takes me.
The
basic question I was asking the Ladies from my church was, "How did Mary
say "Yes" to God so easily? Well to begin, we must first read the
annunciation as it appears in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 1:26-38
26 In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a
town of Galilee called Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of
David, and the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is
with you.”
29 But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered
what sort of greeting this might be.
30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you
have found favor with God.
31 Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and
you shall name him Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and
the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
33 and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his
kingdom there will be no end.”
34 But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no
relations with a man?”
35 And the angel said to her in reply, “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.
36 And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a
son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called
barren;
37 for nothing will be impossible for God.”
38 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.
How
was this very young woman able to say “Yes to God” so easily?
This
was a major life changing request and yet, she says, “May it be done according
to your word” and agrees to be the mother of the Christ Child!
Let’s
take a step back in time, and look at her life in the small town of Nazareth.
According
to tradition and legend, not from any Catholic approved documents, Mary’s
parents, Joachim and Hannah (Anna or Anne) brought Mary
up to love and fear the Lord and to obey his Law’s. According to the Document
called the Gospel of James, (completely unrecognized as accurate, it was not
allowed in the Bible as it was found to be uninspired, or not 'inspired by
God'), Mary was taught in the Temple of the Lord, and studied the scriptures.
Whether taught in the Temple of Jerusalem, or at the feet of her father, Mary
would have known the Prophesies of the Christ, the Psalms and the Virtuous
women of the Proverbs. And perhaps marveled at the women of the past that had
saved the People of Israel when men were unable to do so.
Let’s
look at those women, Mary’s “Hero’s”. Not the imaginary female hero’s like we
and our children grew up with, Wonder Woman, Bat Girl, and Super Girl, comic
book hero’s that had super powers.
No,
these were real women, women that God chose to serve his purposes in
teaching the Children of Israel to repent and abide by his Law.
Naomi
and Ruth, from the Old Testament Book of Ruth
Naomi
was the wife of Elimelech and had two sons. During a famine in Judah, they
moved to the land of Moab, where her husband soon died, and son’s eventually
found wives, Orpah and Ruth. They lived well for ten years in Moab until both
of Naomi’s son’s died and left no grandchildren for Naomi.
Naomi
told her daughter in laws to return to their mothers’ houses and find new
husbands, as she would return to her land of Judah where the famine had ended.
Both
the daughters cried and did not want Naomi to go, but Naomi insisted they go
home to their homes and their gods. Orpah returned to her family.
But
Ruth refused to go and said,
But Ruth said, “Do not press me to go back and abandon
you!
Wherever you go I will go,
wherever you lodge I will lodge.
Your people shall be my people
and your God, my God.
17Where you die I will die,
and there be buried.
May the Lord do thus to me, and more, if even death
separates me from you!”
So
off they went to Bethlehem of Judah. When Naomi returned everyone knew her and
welcomed her back. But Naomi said to them,
“Do not call me Naomi [‘Sweet’]. Call me Mara [‘Bitter’], for
the Almighty has made my life very bitter.
Naomi
sent Ruth went to glean food in barley fields, as it was harvest time. While
she worked all day in the fields and collected a good amount of barley, she
caught the eye of Boaz, the owner of the field. Boaz just happened to be a
relative and close family male in Elimelech family, which made him a possible
husband for Ruth. Boaz told Ruth to only glean in his fields and had his people
watch over her and make sure they left a little more barley for her to find.
Since
it was tradition that a widow would marry her husband’s brother or closest male
relative, Naomi sent Ruth to the threshing floor and where Boaz was celebrating
the harvest. He had laid down a blanket and fallen asleep. Ruth slipped in and
lay down to sleep at his feet. Boaz woke up during the night and asked what was
this about? Ruth told him he was her redeemer or in other words, my husbands
relative, and she asked him to take her under his wing.
He
told her there was another family member that had first dibs, and he would
check with him first. Boaz made sure she left before daylight so no one would
know she had been there and cause a scandal.
Boaz
went to the gates where the elders would meet and men conducted business and
waited for his cousin to arrive. He then asked his cousin if he would like to
purchase Elimelech’s land. At first he said yes but when Boaz told him he must
also take Ruth, he changed his mind and told Boaz he may take the land. Well
one thing leads to another and Boaz takes Ruth as his wife and she produces a
son, a grand child for Naomi, and named him Obed, and Obed was the father
of Jesse, who was the father of David the King.
Ruth’s
love for her mother-in-law, and faithfulness to her people and God, allowed her
to become an integral part of the people of Israel, and bring David who would be the
King of Israel.
The
people of Israel had angered God again and it was allowed that they be
conquered by the Canaanite King, Jabin. The Kings general, Sisera, had tortured
and killed the Israelites for twenty years and was known to be ruthless and
without mercy. He had at his disposal, over nine hundred Iron Chariots; he was
a formidable Army.
The
people prayed to God, please save us, (we’ll be good this time.) So the
Lord sends them Deborah, and she became a leader and Judge of the people of
Israel, holding court and judging the disputes of the people. Deborah would
pray and the Lord God would speak to her.
One day she sends for Barak a leader
of the army or Israel and tells him that the Lord God wants him to take ten
thousand men and go fight Sisera, whom he would send to the river valley of
Kishon. But Barak would not go unless Deborah went with him, as he believed
that they could not win unless she was there.
So
Deborah tells him, OK but because you did not trust the Lord, you will not be
the one to kill Sisera; instead a woman will have that honor.
They
go to Mount Tabor above the valley by the Kishon River and what happens? It
rains! And it rains and the fields turned into mud pits.
(Have you ever been mud bogging and seen these huge trucks get
stuck in the mud?)
Well, all of Sisera’s chariots and horses got bogged down and Barak’s men wiped them out, except for Sisera. He was a sly old dog and knew he had to get while the getting was good!
Well, all of Sisera’s chariots and horses got bogged down and Barak’s men wiped them out, except for Sisera. He was a sly old dog and knew he had to get while the getting was good!
So
Sisera escapes and comes to the tent of Heber whose family had an alliance with
King Jabin. Heber’s wife, Jael, was home alone. Sisera comes in to the tent to
hide and asks for water. Jael knows this man is evil but she plays it cool.
She, instead of water, gives him some warm milk (curds, or buttermilk) and a
blanket and due to his exhaustion, he tells her to keep a watch at the tent
door and he falls asleep.
Now
imagine her standing at the door and listening. As soon as he starts to snore,
little Jael picks up a tent peg and a heavy mallet, tippy-toes over to Sisera
and with all her strength, she slams that mallet down and drives the tent peg
right into his temple! Now how many of us could have done that? Barak finally
arrives having tracked Sisera to Heber’s tent. Jael comes out and calls
him and tells him, come inside, I know who you are looking for, and there he
finds Sisera dead at the hands of this woman.
Deborah
and Jael, two women that did what the Lord asked of them to save the people.
Now
my Non-Catholic Friends, you may have to borrow you Catholic friends Bible, or
you can go to the USCCB.ORG website and look it up in the New American Bible, The Book of Judith is one of the seven books
that we Catholics have but are not in most protestant versions of the Bible or
the King James Version the Baptists prefer. It is worth the read, it has
excitement, intrigue, murder, and saving grace, all rolled into sixteen
chapters!
The
Assyrian general Holofernes was on his way to destroy all the cities that had
snubbed King Nebuchadnezzar, when he laid siege to the city of Bethulia,
cutting off their water and soon the inhabitants began to talk of surrender.
Judith
who was well respected and prayerful widow, still in mourning for her deceased
husband Manasseh, conceived a plan and called to the elders the chief priest
and reminded them they must Pray to God for help, not surrender to be killed.
She told them to open the gate that she would be leaving. She went home and
prayed to God to make her a good liar, then she bathed, removed her widows garb,
dressed in her finest clothes, jewels and perfumed with ointment, she passed
through the gate with her maid who carried several days supply of food and
walked across the valley to the encampment of Holofernes.
There,
she explained to the guards that she wanted to provide the general with
information about the best means of entering Bethulia. They took her to the
general right away.
When Judith was admitted to Holofernes presence, he was
immediately smitten by her beauty. Judith explained that the siege had caused
the Jews to turn away from their religion, and so they therefore merited
destruction. She maintained that God himself had sent her on this errand.
Judith and Holofernes came to an agreement: he would not harm her, and she
would be allowed to leave the camp at night for prayer This, Judith claimed,
would allow her to learn from God exactly when the city should be attacked. For
three days, Judith stayed in the camp, eating only the food her maid prepared
and carried with her in a cloth sack. And at night Judith, and her maid, would
pass, unobstructed to the river to pray and bath to purify her after being in
the presence of the Assyrians.
On
the fourth night, Holofernes held a banquet for his captains, and he invited
Judith, in hopes of wooing her. Judith came dressed in her finest clothes and
also took with her the fleece she had been given to sleep on. Judith lay on her
fleece and drank only the wine and ate only the food given to her by her maid.
Happy with her there, Holofernes drank quite a lot, more than he’d ever drunk
in his life, and far too much to retain consciousness. Everybody but Judith and
Holofernes left the tent. Alone with the drunken, sleeping general, Judith
prayed for strength. Then she took hold of his sword, and, in two strokes, cut
off his head. Her maid, waiting outside the tent, came in with the food sack.
Judith put Holofernes’ head in the sack, pulled down his bed curtains, and the
two women left the camp upon what seemed to be their nightly errand of prayer.
Only
this time they went straight to Bethulia where she called for them to open the
gates and she showed the head to the elders. She told them to put it up on the
wall where his men could see it, and while there was confusion in the camp, to
take all the men in the city down to the camp and finish them off. Which all
this happened and Israel is again saved by a little woman that answered God’s
call.
Mary
had a lot of examples of virtue and faithfulness to the Lord's calling. Her
heart was pure, and she would have also known the Proverbs by heart,
specifically, Proverbs 31.
We'll
discuss this further in part two, to follow soon.
Blessings,
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