Here we meet the young woman named Mary, but it’s not what the angel – a different Gabriel – called her. Hail, full of grace. A new name signals a new identity and every time there’s a change of name in the scriptures, it inevitably means that something else is changing for us and in us. Mary didn’t know what it meant at the time – we so rarely do. But her story provides some hints for how to respond when we suddenly realize that, in God’s eyes, we are more than we seem, and that God has plans for us that are different than what we were thinking.
The first hint is: Learn to see with new eyes. Behold, the angel says. In our sacred texts, Behold invites, even dares us to see from a different perspective. It is frequently used to focus our attention on God’s wondrous action in the world.
Our second hint comes in Mary’s reaction: Be curious, not negative. Mary doesn’t say, no, not me, I’m not ready, which is something I think many of us have said at one time or another in our lives. Instead, Mary asks, how? When adjusting to the impossible, it helps to be a little bit pragmatic and a little bit probing. When God wants to work through us, it’s not always immediately obvious how that can happen.
Third, be open to the Holy Spirit who comes upon us when we least expect it and whose power speaks to the mystery of God’s presence which overshadows Mary as if from a cloud. This is the God of Paul’s letter who strengthens us when we don’t know exactly what is going on.
Finally, look again and see with different eyes the changes God has wrought in you. Mary echoes the word Behold, and draws our attention and her own as she becomes the handmaid of the Lord – a side note: handmaid does not adequately translate the word, doule. Its root certainly refers to a servant, but in the New Testament, and in its masculine form, it is used metaphorically to speak of the true worshippers of Christ through whom God works to spread the gospel and who submit themselves wholly to his will. Paul even uses it to refer to himself. Mary spoke from the confidence of her true self who belonged to no one but God. She spoke out of virgin territory, saying yes, not only to what God was doing in the world, but to what God was doing in her.
--Mary Katharine Deeley
March 25th is the Feast of the Annunciation!
Consider joining us for Mass tomorrow!
Image source: Helena Vurnik, The Annunciation (1915), https://www.ng-slo.si/en/permanent-collection/1900-1918/the-annunciation-helena-vurnik?workId=3543
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