Tuesday, 3/25/14
With all our Rosaries and
Hail Marys we have meditated on the Annunciation ten thousand times. Still,
there is no plumbing the depth of Mary’s character, and there is always profit
in re-entering the scene with our imaginations.
Mary showed no shock at
the angel’s greeting, and she didn’t turn aside. She only pondered, asking
herself what it meant. Schooled in her faith, she saw what was implied by her
offspring being called the Son of the Most High. But even though she was
betrothed to Joseph, she thought the angel should be aware of the flaw to
implementing what he proposed. So, she asked, “How can this be, since I have no
relations with a man?
Her spiritual stature was
evidenced in her wordlessly accepting Gabriel’s explanation that she was to
conceive by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.
Perceiving her
acceptance, Gabriel went on to say, “Elizabeth, your relative, has conceived a
son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren.”
The concern for Elizabeth
the angel exhibited was reassurance for Mary that he had come from her good
God. It tipped the scales, leading her to say, “May it be done to me according
to your word.”
Each year I tell what
happened with me on this feast in 1976. I was saying Mass in the little chapel
in Crescent City. During Lent we were having ten or twelve people coming to the
week day Masses. On the Sunday before this feast of the Anunciaion, reaching
around for material for its homily, I turned to the Annunciation as marking the
all important moment when the Son of God became man.
After that Sunday Mass,
and over the phone, I had quite a few people asking me if the Annunciation was
a Holy Day of obligation. Although I assured them all that it wasn’t, I
re-emphasized its importance to our Faith. With the feast day falling on
Thursday, I expected attendance would rise from the usual ten or twelve; but in
fact, only four Catholics came to Mass that day.
Back then, to avoid
committing a mortal sin, all Catholics made it to Mass on Holy Days of
Obligation; but when the day was clearly established as not being of
obligation, people stayed away to avoid being accused of showing off their
piety.
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