Today, March 25, we commemorate the Solemnity of the
Annunciation of the Lord. This day,
about 2,000 years ago in Nazareth in Galilee, Mary became the mother of God,
whose name is Jesus, Emmanuel, which means God being with us (Matthew 1:23).
Mary was still in her teens, engaged to marry an older man,
Joseph, who worked hard as a carpenter.
While she spent days, looking forward to be in the matrimonial union
with Joseph, out of the blue, Angel Gabriel greets her saying, ““Hail, full of
grace ! The Lord is with you”(Luke 1:28).
The way this angel appeared to Mary must have been like a
strange man suddenly appearing into a girl’s bedroom, saying, “Hi! You are a
favored one!”, given that Mary was perturbed by this and wondered what a heck
the greetings might be (Luke 1:29). Noticing Mary’s trembling anxiety, Angel
Gabriel said, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God”(Luke
1:29). Yeah, right! A guy who scares a
heck out of a girl always says this kind of thing, right? And, so did even
Angel Gabriel! In fact, given that the angel was sent to Mary on behalf of God,
this was how God introduces Himself to this young virgin, Mary, who was about
marry Joseph. What a man, God is!
In fact, upon this strange introduction, God, who was obviously
in favor of Mary, through the mouth of Angel Gabriel, went on to say, “Behold,
you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. 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, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his
kingdom there will be no end”(Luke 1:31-33).
So, this is the very kernel of the whole thing.
God’s messenger, Angel Gabriel, came to greet Mary to
announce to her that she has conceived the Son of God, the Most High, to raise
him as the King of all kings, the King of the Universe, as prophesized in
Daniel’s dream a long time ago (Daniel 7:14) and again, would be told to John
later (Revelation 11:15). But, obviously
Mary had no clue about who she has just become pregnant with! So, she uttered:
“How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?”
(Luke 1:34)
God sure had to do a bit of more explanation through Angel
Gabriel as Mary wondered about God’s power to make her pregnant as He wishes
regardless of her wish and worldly knowledge:
“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”(Luke 1:35).
I suppose that Mary felt, as this Tagalog expression,
“bahala na”(leave it to God), or this Japanese expression, “shikataga
nai”(nothing I can do about it), means, in response to God’s power.
So, 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”
(Luke 1:38).
It was actually smart of Mary to accept God’s surprise
“invitation” to serve Him as the mother of His Son, as His agent of making the
Word become flesh, for His grand salvific plan.
Just imagine Mary refused this and even tried to commit abortion,
because it was shameful, even way back then, for an unmarried woman to be found
pregnant. Pregnancy out of wedlock was
subject to the punishment provided in the Law of Moses (Exodus 22:16-17).
But, Mary accepted
her “unplanned” and perhaps, initially unwanted, pregnancy. Otherwise, there would be no Christmas, no
Good Friday, no Easter, and no Pentecost! Imagine, how we could be saved,
otherwise.
As this day of solemnity falls during Lent, imagine if we
could be subject to the kind of judgement, comparable to the Passion of Jesus.
He went through the agonizing road to Calvary and died on the Cross with
indescribable suffering and pain, for us!
So, imagine if Mary refused God’s offer to make her Theotokos, the
Mother of God, at Annunciation.
Of course, God’s special favor of Mary, did not start at
that moment of Annunciation, as it was God who made her be conceived in the
womb of her mother, Anna, immaculately.
This God’s early favor on Mary was to prepare for Jesus, His Son, to be
born without any influence of the trace of Original Sin, through the virgin
conception on Mary’s immaculate womb.
This way, God made the Word flesh (John 3:16) without any problem with
Original Sin. How genius God is! He is awesome!
The way Mary responded to God’s annunciation via Gabriel’s
greetings also reflects what Jesus meant by his parable of a grain of wheat
(John 12:24). The Gospel narrative that
contains this parable was read this past Sunday, 5th Sunday of Lent Year B –
John 12:20-33.
"Very, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much
fruit” (John 12:24).
Of course, Jesus was speaking of himself through this metaphor.
In this, Jesus, who was about to die to save us, sinners, is a grain of wheat
that is to fall into the earth, suggesting his death on the Cross (Good Friday)
and burial in the grave (Holy Saturday).
Jesus spoke these words to his disciples shortly before hosting his
Passover Seder dinner, the Last Supper (Holy Thursday, Maundy Thursday).
Note Jesus’ words immediately follow this grain of wheat
metaphor:
“Whoever loves his life will loses it, and whoever hates his
life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must
follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor
whoever serves me (John 12:25-26).
These words of Jesus that follow the grain of wheat metaphor
suggest that Jesus was also speaking of the metaphor to invite us, those who
follow him, to be like a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and
die. Obviously, Jesus’s words in John
12:24-26 allude to his sayings in Luke 9:23 and 14:27, to bear our cross,
meaning a possibility of martyrdom, to follow him and to be entitled to eternal
life. But, through this grain of wheat metaphor, Jesus
is assuring that our martyrdom or our sacrifice become growing seeds for
abundant harvest.
In fact, by saying, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her”
(Luke 1:38), Mary let her own personal wishes and whatever her ego brings fall
and die. The shell of the seed, her ego,
died, as she surrendered herself totally to God’s will, even though she could
not comprehend. She did not delay this
by trying to argue with God. That is why
she was able to bear the fruit of her womb, Jesus, who is Emmanuel, God being
with us. And, as suggested in John 12:24, this fruit of Mary’s immaculate womb,
becomes a grain of wheat to bring rich harvest, so that he can become the bread
of life for eternal life for us (John 6:35-51).
What about us? How willing are we to serve God – His will –
as a grain of wheat that falls into the ground and die? How capable are we to
bear abundant fruits by dying?
We sure can bear multifold fruit if we let the Holy Spirit
work through us, as a grain of wheat, for God’s will. Out of the fruit we can bear comes love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
self-control, and against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).
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