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“Annunciation”
by Alessandro Allori,1603 |
Readings for the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary: [4]
Reading 1: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10
The Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying:
Ask for a sign from the Lord, your God;
let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!
But Ahaz answered,
"I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!"
Then Isaiah said:
Listen, O house of David!
Is it not enough for you to weary people,
must you also weary my God?
Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means "God is with us!"
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Commentary on Is 7:10-14; 8:10
In the first part of this reading, the prophet attempts to reassure the king as Jerusalem comes under threat of attack from Syria. King Ahaz is offered a sign by the prophet Isaiah. However, Ahaz refuses the sign because it would indicate that God was intervening on the prophet’s side, and he did not want to accept that.
The sign that would be given, despite the king’s refusal, is the oracle we understand as referring to the perfect realization of the promise of a Davidic dynasty in the birth of the Messiah – Christ Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary.
“The sign proposed by Isaiah was concerned with the preservation of Judah in the midst of distress (cf Isaiah 7:15, 17), but more especially with the fulfillment of God's earlier promise to David (2 Samuel 7:12-16) in the coming of Immanuel (meaning, "With us is God") as the ideal king (cf Isaiah 9:5-6; 11:1-5). The Church has always followed St. Matthew in seeing the transcendent fulfillment of this verse in Christ and his Virgin Mother.” [5]
"The child, the son, is the most significant part of the sign. If the prophecy refers to the son of Ahaz, the future King Hezekiah, it would be indicating that his birth will be a sign of divine protection, because it will mean that the dynasty will continue. If it refers to another child, not yet known, the prophet's words would mean that the child's birth could manifest hope that 'God was going to be with us,' and his reaching the age of discretion (v. 16) would indicate the advent of peace; the child's birth would, then, be the sign that 'God is with us.' In the New Testament, the deeper meaning of these words find fulfillment: Mary is Virgin and Mother, and her Son is not a symbol of God's protection but God himself who dwells among us."[6]
CCC: Is 7:14 497
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11
R. (8a and 9a) Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Sacrifice or oblation you wished not,
but ears open to obedience you gave me.
Holocausts or sin-offerings you sought not;
then said I, "Behold I come."
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
"In the written scroll it is prescribed for me,
To do your will, O my God, is my delight,
and your law is within my heart!"
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
I announced your justice in the vast assembly;
I did not restrain my lips, as you, O Lord, know.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.
R. Here I am, Lord; I come to do your will.
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Commentary on Ps 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11
Psalm 40 is a song of thanksgiving combined with a lament. The initial waiting of the psalmist is satisfied by favor shown by God to one who is faithful in service to him. These strophes sing the thanksgiving of those who hear the voice of God and obey his words. This obedience is loved by God above ritual sacrifices. The Lord especially loves those who follow his law. Once heard, the good news is proclaimed to all the people.
CCC: Ps 40:7-9 LXX 462; Ps 40:7 2824
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Reading II: Hebrews 10:4-10
Brothers and sisters:
It is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats
take away sins.
For this reason, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but a body you prepared for me;
in holocausts and sin offerings you took no delight.
Then I said, 'As is written of me in the scroll,
behold, I come to do your will, O God.'"
First he says, "Sacrifices and offerings,
holocausts and sin offerings,
you neither desired nor delighted in."
These are offered according to the law.
Then he says, "Behold, I come to do your will."
He takes away the first to establish the second.
By this "will," we have been consecrated
through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ once for all.
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Commentary on Heb 10:4-10
Sacrifices traditionally offered in the Hebrew temple are refuted as an ineffective act to take away sins. Psalm 40 is quoted here by the author and applied as if it were Jesus addressing God, the Father. The intent is to stress the scriptural understanding that the Hebrew practice of animal sacrifice does not find favor with God and that Jesus' sacrifice of his own body is the one and only acceptable sacrifice of atonement.
"The author of the letter, elaborating on the text of the psalm, asserts that the Messiah's sacrifice is greater than the sacrifices of the old law, unbloody as well as bloody, sin-offerings as well as burnt offerings as they were called in the liturgy (cf. Leviticus 5;6; 7:27). The sacrifice of Christ, who has ‘come into the world,’ has replaced both kinds of ancient sacrifice. It consisted in perfectly doing the will of His Father (cf. John 4:34; 6:38; 8:29; 14:31), even though He was required to give His life to the point of dying on Calvary (Matthew 26:42; John 10:18; Hebrews 5:7-9). Christ ‘came into the world’ to offer Himself up to suffering and death for the redemption of the world." [7]
CCC: Heb 10:1-4 1540; Heb 10:5-10 606; Heb 10:5-7 462, 516, 2568; Heb 10:5 488; Heb 10:7 2824; Heb 10:10 614, 2824
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Gospel: Luke 1:26-38
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, full of grace! 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.
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Commentary on Lk 1:26-38
This passage, from St. Luke’s Gospel, is the story of Mary being informed by the archangel Gabriel that she has been chosen for the great privilege of bearing the Savior of the world. St. Mary graciously accepts this honor, although with very human fear, indicating that her free will is at play. This response makes her obedience to God’s will more powerful. It is proposed that, with this acceptance, Mary entered into a vow of perpetual virginity because of the demands of Isaiah 7:14 : “Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel."
In St. Luke’s story of the Annunciation, the archangel Gabriel comes to Mary and tells her she will bear a son and names him Jesus (the eternal implication of this statement is made clear in the greeting which presupposes knowledge of Mary’s entire existence). Mary confirms the title “Virgin” given by the author as she questions Gabriel saying: “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?” Even though she does not understand, Mary accepts her role and is told that the Holy Spirit will be the agent of the life within her. She then utters those amazing words: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
This announcement is parallel to Zechariah’s news about John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-23), which is also delivered by the archangel Gabriel. This passage clearly identifies Jesus as Son of David and Son of God, thus linking it with the messianic predictions from the Old Testament.
CCC: Lk 1:26-38 497, 706, 723, 2571; Lk 1:26-27 488; Lk 1:26 332; Lk 1:28-37 494; Lk 1:28 490, 491; Lk 1:31 430, 2812; Lk 1:32-33 709; Lk 1:32 559; Lk 1:34 484, 497, 505; Lk 1:35 437, 484, 486, 697; Lk 1:37-38 494; Lk 1:37 148, 269, 273, 276; Lk 1:38 64, 148, 510, 2617, 2677, 2827, 2856
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Reflection:
Those of us who have virtuously practiced prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as we engaged in our Lenten discipline can become focused on the prize, the promise fulfilled in the Easter of our joy. It is good, therefore, that as we celebrate that joyous event that is the climax of our Lord’s mission, we are called back to the very beginning. It started with an incredible (and very anonymous) event in the little town of Nazareth. Mary, the daughter of Anne and Joachim, a Spirit-led young lady, had an unprecedented visit from a messenger of God, the Most High. We call this event the “Annunciation” because that messenger, the archangel Gabriel, announced to Mary that she was to be the vessel of God’s Only Begotten Son. The Church could easily have named the event something else.
One of the key reasons we find this story so compelling is that Mary, a young and innocent girl, well educated in Mosaic Law, was given free will to accept the pronouncement of the archangel or to reject the call to be used by God in this way. Her humble acceptance could easily have been celebrated as the solemnity of the “acceptance.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) says this about the Annunciation:
484 The Annunciation to Mary inaugurates "the fullness of time", the time of the fulfillment of God's promises and preparations. Mary was invited to conceive him in whom the "whole fullness of deity" would dwell "bodily". The divine response to her question, "How can this be, since I know not man?", was given by the power of the Spirit: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you."
As is implied by this statement, the visit Mary received from the archangel Gabriel sets in motion events that fulfill God’s plan from the beginning. It is God’s final revelatory act of love and mercy, given to his creation that they (we) might accept the inheritance he has prepared for us.
Think of it! It all depended on a young girl, Mary, accepting God’s offer (it is in fact an offer, not a pronouncement). And what was that incredible offer? Mary had to know that conceiving a child at that time in her life without a husband could mean her death by stoning, the punishment prescribed by law for an adulteress. Yet her response is so humble and simple: "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
With that humble act of faith, Mary establishes herself as the first of the saints. Her example of selfless love provides an avenue of grace that fills her and assures her a preeminent place in the heavenly kingdom.
On this solemn feast day dedicated to the Annunciation, we thank God for his act of love in sending his Only Begotten Son into the world. We thank our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for choosing to become man, and at the same time to become the sacrifice that takes away our sins. And we thank the Blessed Virgin Mary for making her courageous decision and accepting the path offered to her.
Pax
In other years on this date: Monday of the Second Week of Easter.
[1] Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, Published by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2] The picture used is “Annunciation” by Alessandro Allori,1603.
[3] S.S. Commemoratio[4] The readings are taken from the New American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[5] NAB footnote on Isaiah 7: 10ff.
[6] The Navarre Bible: “Major Prophets,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2002, p.73.
[7] The Navarre Bible: “Revelation and Hebrews and Catholic Letters,” Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003, p. 222.
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