Advent Reflections Day 21: Can God Have Our Fiat for Sending His Son, Christ, to US? - Final Countdown to the Arrival of Christ

 Though it had been prophesized for at least 1,000 years before…at the time of King David’s reign of Judah……..though it had been planned ever since the time of the fall of Adam and Eve to Satan’s temptation…..though it had been planned ever since before the time…the very annunciation of the incarnated Christ’s coming came as a total surprise first to Mary…then to Joseph. This news comes to Mary and her husband, Joseph, because Mary had been chosen to be the critical instrument for Christ to make his theophany in the human flesh of Jesus. So, at the Annunciation, Angel Gabriel, a messenger of God, told Mary that she had been chosen to serve God as the Theotokos, as she has conceived the Son of God, who is Emmanuel, prophesized in Isaiah 7:14, to be named as “Jesus”, which means “God saves”.

In fact, the Annunciation is the first concrete incidence to unfold what had been prophesized ever since Genesis 3:15, to reverse what Satan had done to the humans through Adam and Eve. The salvation and redemption by the Son, Christ, is consummated with the total destruction of Satan and all of his collaborators (Revelation 20:7-9).

God the Father had chosen Mary to be the Theotokos, intending to make her the Immaculate Conception, before the time, as indicated by Bl. Pope Pius IX in his “Ineffabilis Deus”(1854), and Christ pre-existed with God the Father as the Word (John 1:1), as well as, the Wisdom (Proverbs 8:22-36), to be sent to us in the human flesh as Emmanuel (which means God with us), to dwell among us (John 1:14). And, God had decided to do so in response to the fall of Adam and Eve to Stan’s temptation (Genesis 3:15). And, the coming of this Christ was prophesized as the Davidic king, during the reign of King David (2 Samuel 5:12-16), about 1,000 years before the Annunciation. Then, through Isaiah, God gave more specific prophecy about the incarnated Christ to be born of a virgin and to be Emmanuel, which means “God with us”, indicating the divinity of the son born of the virgin (Isaiah 7:14), during the reign of King Ahaz of the house of David, to whose sin, God revealed this. And, God further more revealed that Christ comes as the great light (Isaiah 9:1-6), echoing Christ’s self-identification as the light (John 8:12). It was more than 700 years before the Annunciation.

So, if the incalculable time span of God’s plan to send His only begotten Son, Christ, who was with God as Logos-Theos (Word-God), in the human flesh (John 1:1, 14), before the time to be compared to a day, 24 hours, say that God’s plan to send His only begotten Son, Christ, in the human flesh, through Mary, the Immaculate Conception, before the time, as the 0:00, the Annunciation comes at the very last minute of the day, 23:59. So, these 9 months of Mary’s pregnancy constitute only the very last minute of a day.

Now, with the solemn feast of the Nativity of the Lord less than 5 days away, we are like being in this last minute before the arrival of the incarnated Christ, which God the Father had planned eons ago, before the time.

So, in this very last minute, God first made Elizabeth, who had been thought as barren, pregnant with John the Baptist, to prepare the way of the coming of Christ (Luke 1:5-25; John 1:19-34; Acts 13:23-25). And, upon the birth of John the Baptist, his father, priest, Zachariah, prophesized the coming of Christ as the daybreak from the heaven above (Luke 1:78), as the birth of John the Baptist was in the process of Christ’s coming.

And, this is how the coming of Christ was first announced to Mary, the virgin betrothed to be the wife of Joseph, living in Nazareth.

Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you, greeted the Angel Gabriel, a messenger of God from heaven (Luke 1:28), out of the blue.

At first, Mary could not comprehend what this was all about – what sort of greeting it was (Luke 1:29).

Sensing her surprise and wondering what this was all about, Gabriel said to Mary:

Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 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 1:30-33).

Note that Gabriel repeated in indicating that Mary is highly favored one, meaning that she is “gratia plena”, she is, indeed, “Ave Maria, gratia plena”(Hail Mary, full of grace). Mary being favored one (Luke 1:28,30) means that she is the Immaculate Conception so that she has been full of grace imperviously against any corrupting effects of the Original Sin. And, Mary had to be this way, being highly favored one, full of grace, the Immaculate Conception, to let her flesh be used for the incarnation of Christ.

So, Gabriel announced to Mary of her virgin pregnancy with the Son of God, the Son of the Most High, who is to be named “Jesus”, which means “God saves”, and is Davidic king. This is to indicate that what had been prophesized since the time of King David for about 1,000 years (2 Samuel 7:12-16) and since the time of King Ahaz, a corrupt Davidic king, for more than 700 years (Isaiah 7:14, 9:5-6), also further envisioned in later years (Isaiah 52:1-12, 60:1-9).

But, it was just too much for Mary, the virgin, about age 15, to comprehend. So, Mary said:

How can this be, since I have no relations with a man? (Luke 1:34).

In other words, Mary wonders how she can ever become pregnant as she is virgin, not yet consummated her union with Joseph. Yes, it makes no sense for a woman to become pregnant without a physical relationship with a man. In fact, such a thing is impossible for the humans.

So, a messenger of God, Gabriel, replies to Mary’s wondering:

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).

Basically, Gabriel is telling Mary that her virgin pregnancy is done by the power of the Most High, by the power of God the Father in heaven – because He had chosen her even before the time as His highly favored one, already making her “full of grace” against any corrupting effect of the Original Sin, so that she is the new Eve, the Immaculate Conception. So, Mary is and will be always overshadowed by God – God is always with her. So, for this reason, the son conceived in her womb is holy Son of God.

In addition to this explanation, Gabriel also announced Mary of Elizabeth’s surprise pregnancy – though she had been thought as barren (Luke 1:36).

And, Gabriel concluded that even a virgin, Mary, becomes pregnant and that even a barren, Elizabeth, Mary’s relative, becomes pregnant, as God wills so, because even what is impossible with the humans is possible with God (Luke 1:37), reminding that God who made not only Mary the virgin but also Elizabeth, the barren pregnant is God of almighty, El Shaddai (i.e. Genesis 17:1; Jeremiah 32:17).

So, Mary responded with her fiat:

Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word (Luke 1:38).

These words of Mary’s fiat to all that announced about her unexpected pregnancy make the critical threshold to make this God’s plan, spanning eons since before the beginning of time, to bring forth His only begotten Son, Christ, to us in the human flesh of Jesus to let him dwell among us for our salvation and redemption – and eventually to destroy Satan, who corrupted the humanity with the temptation. Imagine, had Mary ever rejected what is announced to her because she were not the Immaculate Conception, not full of grace imperviously to any corrupting effects of the Original Sin. Then, God’s grand scheme to bring the incarnated Christ could have been significantly disrupted.

Remember, Mary is not divine at all. She is fully human, just like us. She is the Immaculate Conception, full of grace, to give her flesh to her Son, so that his flesh is unblemished – so that he can save as the salvific Lamb of God through his blood (John 1:29, 36; Exodus 12:3-13; Isaiah 53:7; 1 Peter 1:2, 19; Revelation 5:12; cf Leviticus 1:10). We may not be called to serve God as Mary has, as God only needs one Theotokos. But, each of us, by virtue of Baptism, is called to serve God and to take our part to continue on with God’s grand scheme of salvation and redemption, as well as the destruction of Satan. For this reason, we have been awaken and remained vigilant and diligent in preparing ourselves to receive the incarnated Christ in our hearts, better than the manger, about 2,000 years ago.

Mary has shown us a perfect example of how we respond to God’s call – God’s invitation to take part in making the coming of Christ in every-day reality through us – through our contrite and clean hearts of humility and love.

So, from now until the day of his arrival, in this very last minute, counting since before the time, can we assure of ourselves be like Mary – to be channel of Christ’s arrival?  Can we show our fiat to God?

Can God make it be done unto us, according to His word, as we fine-tune our reception of the incarnated Christ?