December 12: The Annunciation
♫ Music:
The Annunciation
Scripture: Luke 1: 26-33
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, 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.”
Mary’s Poem
by Kathleen Wakefield
When she heard infinity
whispered in her ear, did the flashing
scissors in her fingers fall
to the wooden floor and the spool unravel,
the spider’s sly cradle
tremble with love?
Imagine
How the dry fields leaned
toward the news and she heard, for a moment,
the households of crickets -
When she answered, all things shifted, the moon
in its river of milk.
And when she wanted to pluck
her heart from her breast, did she remember
a commotion of wings, or the stirring
of dust?
YOU WHO ARE HIGHLY FAVORED
As I reread the familiar account of the Annunciation, I am struck again by the meeting of God and man in the life of an ordinary young girl. We are told little about Mary. It seems that what is important to know about her is that she is divinely favored and blessed among women, and yet the great privilege of her position is difficult to grasp. I cannot help but feel more pressingly the great weight, and indeed burden, of her calling. We know that Elizabeth, through her pregnancy, joins the company of a number of Old Testament women—older, married women whose prayers for children God answered. Mary’s pregnancy, however, is something very different. Elizabeth’s joyful words—“Thus the Lord has done for me…to take away my reproach among people” (Luke 1:25)—haunt us as we move into Mary’s portion of Luke’s first chapter. We are reminded that while Elizabeth is relieved of the “reproach” of childlessness, Mary must submit to the disgrace of a child conceived out of wedlock. Even the angel Gabriel’s promises of Jesus’ exaltation seem to further contrast with, and therefore also emphasize, the shame that Mary must endure.
As we consider the mixing of pain and blessing in Mary’s story, we remember that when God draws us to his glory, it is often through the path of sacrifice. The Apostle Paul also helps illustrate this, as he, like Mary, is called simultaneously to hardship and favor. In the very moment that he is named a “chosen instrument,” God also assigns to him a corresponding suffering, saying, “For I will show [Paul] how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15-16). John Howley’s video, “Emmanuel,” helps us to understand Mary as one who braves the dark nights of prayer for the light and glory of God’s presence.
We might also consider, alongside Mary and Paul, the rich young man who could not bear the cost of following Jesus. After he turns away from Jesus, the disciples ask who can then be saved, and Jesus replies: “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26). Jesus’ answer parallels Gabriel’s when Mary asks how she, a virgin, can have a child: “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). The similarity of their answers points to a deeper connection between the two situations. In both cases, divine power overcomes human weakness, and we see that the impossible miracle of the virgin birth figures for us another work of God—our salvation. Each time that Christ enters a sinner’s heart, God works the same miracle as when Christ humbly came to inhabit the virgin womb. Mary’s story, then, is our own story of salvation.
Today we remember that Jesus also comes to each of us and says, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (Luke 1:28). At this, we tremble, for he calls us to follow him on the way of the cross, but we also take heart, for “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thess. 5:24).
Prayer
Dear Lord, “I will sing of your steadfast love, forever; with my mouth I will make known your faithfulness to all generations. For I said, ‘Steadfast love will be built up forever; in the heavens you will establish your faithfulness.’ You have said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn to David my servant: ‘I will establish your offspring forever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Let the heavens praise your wonders, O Lord, your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones!”
Amen. (Psalm 89:1-5)
Jane Kim
Assistant Professor of English
Torrey Honors Institute
Video: Emmanuel
John R. Howley
About the Video and Editor:
John R. Howley (1949 - 2014) was an American composer, musician, painter and animation story sketch artist from Los Angeles. “This little film, Emmanuel,” Howley stated, “was made as a response to Pope Benedict XVI's call to A YEAR OF FAITH.” Sensitively rendered, the short film marks the event of the Annunciation of the Angel Gabriel to the the young Virgin Mary telling her that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God.
About the Music:
“Ave Maria”
Lyrics:
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
About the Performer:
Lupe Ríos comes from Ciudad Guzmán, Jalisco, México. He is one of 12 brothers and sisters born to a poor but happy family full of dreams and ambitions. When Lupe was a young boy, his family immigrated to the United States. In the USA he immersed himself in religious music. Lupe attended the University of Washington where he studied Political Theory and Economics with minors in Human Rights, Religion, and Music. He has served as the Director of Worship for Mission San Luis Rey Parish in Oceanside, CA, and is currently Director of Music at Mary, Star of the Sea Catholic Church in La Jolla, CA, where he is involved in a variety of music projects, including composing and recording.
http://lupedifranco.com
About the Hymn:
“Hail Mary,” also commonly called “Ave Maria” (Latin) is a traditional Christian prayer based on the greeting of the archangel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary in the Gospel of Luke. The prayer takes different forms in various traditions. Often set to music, the most famous version is by Charles Gounod (1818-1893) who added melody and words to Johann Sebastian Bach's first prelude from the Well-Tempered Clavier. The prayer incorporates two passages from the Gospel of Luke: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee," and "Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." The second passage is taken from Elizabeth's greeting to Mary in Luke 1:42.
About the Poet:
Kathleen Wakefield (b. 1954) is a poet and teacher. Wakefield lives in Penfield, New York. Her poetry has appeared in The Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, The Journal and Poetry. Her publication, Notations on the Visible World, was the winner of the 1999 Anhinga Prize for Poetry. Wakefield, was the winner of the 1992 State Street Press Poetry Chapbook Competition for her work, There and Back. A graduate of Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, Wakefield is the recipient of grants from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the Constance Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts. Wakefield frequently turns to Gospel scenes to explore the relationship between the Word and lived experience. Mary’s Poem was originally commissioned to be set to music.