Reading
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, “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.”
But Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” 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. 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; for nothing will be impossible for God.” 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.
Meditation
Mary is the first creature to be evangelized, receiving the word of salvation on the advent of the Messiah expected by Israel. If the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist had taken place in Jerusalem - the center of Judaism - to a priest, in the midst of divine worship, here the angel appears to a humble woman, in a small village in Galilee, a region that gave birth to the prophets Jonah and Nahum but was held in little account in the country.
The woman is called Mary, a Latin transposition of the Hebrew name Miriam - the same as the sister of Moses and Aaron - whose meaning is "exalted" (by God). The virgin is betrothed to a man, Joseph, whose genealogy attests to a descent from David. We are not sure, however, of Mary's Davidic descent; however, the attribution to Jesus of the title "Son of David" even though he was born of Mary without her having been united with Joseph, suggest that Mary herself is Davidic descent.
Jesus is presented, therefore, as the legitimate king of Israel, although the kingdom which he inaugurates "is not of this world" (Jn 18:36) and will have no end. Jesus is the "Son of the Most High" (v. 32), a title that will be recognized on several occasions: by the Father, during his baptism in the Jordan (Lk 3:22), by Peter ("You are the Christ, the Son of the living God "; Mt 16:16), from the possessed Gadarenus ("What is there between you and me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?"; Mk 5: 7); from the centurion near the cross ("Truly, this was the Son of God"; Mt 27:54).
The angel's greeting does not have the usual Hebrew formula Shalom (Peace) but is indicated with the Greek chàire, or "rejoice", which seems to allude to several messianic passages of the Old Testament. The following word, kecharitoméne literally means "favored by grace", indicating the particular privilege to which Mary is raised. Hence his upset, in the awareness of his creatural limit, the recipient of a surprising plan from God. The words "the Lord is with you" (v. 28) also recall an expression that often recurs in the Ancient testament, to indicate God's assistance in a mission.
Mary's answer-question "how is this possible?" does not indicate a doubt about God's ability to make her conceive without knowing man, but rather the surprise for a choice of election of what is humble and hidden. The shadow that will spread over her represents the mystery of God's extraordinary operations and at the same time recalls the cloud that accompanied Israel in her exodus from Egypt to the promised land. The Annunciation thus takes on a paschal connotation, of "new exodus", since the birth of the Messiah will mark the passage from the slavery of sin to the freedom of grace.
The shadow that extends over Mary is the image of the Holy Spirit, who acts in believers in listening to and ruminating on the word of God: "Mary, on her part, kept all these things, pondering them in her heart" (Lk 2:19). The event of the Annunciation and Mary's response constitute for every believer an invitation to accept God's will, in the certainty of the efficacy of grace: "Here I am, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you said happen to me". The "yes" that Mary pronounces conditions her whole life and the fate of the entire human race. The willingness to fulfill radical and definitive decisions like that of Mary will shape in our lives the great plans that God has for us.
Prayer
We rejoice, Lord, at hearing your word of salvation. May it generate in our souls, through the action of your Spirit, the eternal Word; so that we can sing of your mercy. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
