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(Tomorrow is the day "nine months" from Christmas.)
> St. Luke 1:24-38 (3/25) Gospel for the Feast of the
> Annunciation of the Theotokos
>
> Mystical Conception: St. Luke 1:24-38, especially vs. 34: "Then Mary
> said to the angel, 'How can this be, since I do not know a man?'" God
> the Word, the Lord of the Universe, joined Himself eternally and
> completely to mankind in the Incarnation. He performed this union in
> concert with the Theotokos, entering her womb. While using elements of
> the natural procreative process, He also overshadowed both nature and
> history in becoming man (Lk. 1:35).
>
> But let Christians realize that what occurred in "Mary's case" is
> revealed now as God's goal for everyone. In the Baptismal Mystery, the
> Faithful receive the Holy Spirit Who empowers us to discard, if we will,
> what is fallen, and to grow in God's grace and the sonship He gives. As
> St. Maximos the Confessor states: "By this power, Christ is always born
> mysteriously and willingly, becoming incarnate through those who are
> saved. He causes the soul which begets Him to be a virgin-mother."1 So
> then, understand the Annunciation as the model of what God wills to
> achieve in you and in every one of us. The Annunciation is from God for
> us: "Turn ye to me, and ye shall be saved...I Am God, and there is none
> other" (Is. 45:22).
>
> With precision, the Evangelist enumerates the specifics of the Virgin's
> time, place, person, social status, and lineage (Lk. 1:26,27). Life for
> the Theotokos was about specifics. We also live in a certain town, at a
> specific address, at what the Postal Service calls a "point of
> delivery," which regularly is embossed on our letters as a 62 bar code.
> We are alive on a specific date, in this century, bound to what we call
> "now." We are married, single, engaged, widowed, or divorced - "check
> one only." In truth, God's saving acts in Christ are for all men, yet
> salvation is bestowed one by one, so that each of us may cry, "Thou art
> my God" (Ps. 117:28).
>
> Notice what Gabriel said: "Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with
> you..." (Lk. 1:28). To have God active in the specifics of one's life
> is an occasion of great joy, a cause for rejoicing. How glorious to
> know that our souls, our ordinary human psyches, contain the potential
> both to have Christ conceived within us and to be fully formed in every
> aspect of our being (Gal. 4:19)! While most of us are still far from
> having Christ fully formed in us, yet He Himself prays that He may be in
> us and we in Him (Jn. 17:23). O Savior, save us!
>
> We are told that Mary "...was troubled at [Gabriel's] saying, and
> considered what manner of greeting this was" (Lk. 1:29). It is
> unsettling to have God act in one's life. His presence within disrupts
> our logic, pushes our assumptions toward new patterns, stretches and
> calls us to change, repent, accept, and respond. Appropriately, the
> Archangel sealed the Virgin off from agitation and fear: "Do not be
> afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God" (vs. 30).
>
> Our decision to undertake mystical conception and incarnation need not
> be made from fear. Rather, receive the great lovingkindness of God
> Himself. As Christians, we have found favor with God. His love has
> been manifested that we might live in Him (1 Jn. 4:9).
>
> The angel Gabriel answered the Virgin's perplexity and ours: "The Holy
> Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow
> you..." (Lk. 1:35). It is beyond mortal understanding that God wishes
> to be conceived in us mystically and that He may be. However, the Son
> of God became the Son of Man, and His conception has been repeated
> countless times in specific persons. God does what He will, "for with
> God nothing will be impossible" (vs. 37).
>
> Last of all, notice: mystical conception requires our assent. God does
> not force. Love is born from freedom's womb. Christ has a Divine and a
> human will, and so, let us say, "Thy will be done." Assent with the
> Theotokos: "Let it be to me according to your word" (vs. 38).
>
> >From day to day, show forth Thy salvation in us, O God, as we sing
> unto Thee, Alleluia.2
>
>
(o)Post Edited (pulp-pincher) : 3/24/2008 6:06:07 PM (GMT-5) |