Replies

From: Luke 1:26-38

The Annunciation and Incarnation of the Son of God

[26] In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city
of Galilee named Nazareth, [27] to a virgin betrothed to a man whose
name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
[28] And he came to her and said, "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is
with you!" [29] But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and
considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. [30] And
the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found
favor with God. [31] And behold, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. [32] He will be great,
and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give
to Him the throne of His father David, [33] and He will reign over the
house of Jacob for ever; and of His Kingdom there will be no end."
[34] And Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I have no
husband?" [35] And the angel said to her, "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. [36] And
behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a
son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. [37]
For with God nothing will be impossible." [38] And Mary said, "Behold,
I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your
word." And the angel departed from her.

Commentary:

26-38. Here we contemplate our Lady who was "enriched from the first
instant of her conception with the splendor of an entirely unique
holiness; [...] the virgin of Nazareth is hailed by the heralding
angel, by divine command, as `full of grace' (cf. Luke 1:28), and to
the heavenly messenger she replies, `Behold the handmaid of the Lord,
be it done unto me according to thy word' (Luke 1:38). Thus the
daughter of Adam, Mary, consenting to the word of God, became the
Mother of Jesus. Committing herself wholeheartedly to God's saving
will and impeded by no sin, she devoted herself totally, as a handmaid
of the Lord, to the person and work of her Son, under and with Him,
serving the mystery of Redemption, by the grace of Almighty God.
Rightly, therefore, the Fathers (of the Church) see Mary not merely as
passively engaged by God, but as freely cooperating in the work of
man's salvation through faith and obedience" (Vatican II, "Lumen
Gentium", 56).

The annunciation to Mary and incarnation of the Word constitute the
deepest mystery of the relationship between God and men and the most
important event in the history of mankind: God becomes man, and will
remain so forever, such is the extent of His goodness and mercy and
love for all of us. And yet on the day when the Second Person of the
Blessed Trinity assumed frail human nature in the pure womb of the
Blessed Virgin, it all happened quietly, without fanfare of any kind.

St. Luke tells the story in a very simple way. We should treasure
these words of the Gospel and use them often, for example, practising
the Christian custom of saying the Angelus every day and reflecting on
the five Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary.

27. God chose to be born of a virgin; centuries earlier He disclosed
this through the prophet Isaiah (cf. Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22-23). God,
"before all ages made choice of, and set in her proper place, a mother
for His only-begotten Son from whom He, after being made flesh, should
be born in the blessed fullness of time: and He continued His
persevering regard for her in preference to all other creatures, to
such a degree that for her alone He had singular regard" (Pius IX,
"Ineffabilis Deus," 2). This privilege granted to our Lady of being a
virgin and a mother at the same time is a unique gift of God. This was
the work of the Holy Spirit "who at the conception and the birth of
the Son so favored the Virgin Mother as to impart fruitfulness to her
while preserving inviolate her perpetual virginity" ("St. Pius V
Catechism," I, 4, 8). Paul VI reminds us of this truth of faith: "We
believe that the Blessed Mary, who ever enjoys the dignity of
virginity, was the Mother of the incarnate Word, of our God and Savior
Jesus Christ" ("Creed of the People of God", 14).

Although many suggestions have been made as to what the name Mary
means, most of the best scholars seem to agree that Mary means "lady".
However, no single meaning fully conveys the richness of the name.

28. "Hail, full of grace": literally the Greek text reads "Rejoice!",
obviously referring to the unique joy over the news which the angel is
about to communicate.

"Full of grace": by this unusual form of greeting the archangel reveals
Mary's special dignity and honor. The Fathers and Doctors of the
Church "taught that this singular, solemn and unheard-of-greeting
showed that all the divine graces reposed in the Mother of God and that
she was adorned with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit", which meant
that she "was never subject to the curse", that is, was preserved from
all sin. These words of the archangel in this text constitute one of
the sources which reveal the dogma of Mary's Immaculate Conception (cf.
Pius IX, "Ineffabilis Deus"; Paul VI, "Creed of the People of God").

"The Lord is with you!": these words are not simply a greeting ("the
Lord be with you") but an affirmation ("the Lord is with you"), and
they are closely connected with the Incarnation. St. Augustine
comments by putting these words on the archangel's lips: "He is more
with you than He is with me: He is in your heart, He takes shape within
you, He fills your soul, He is in your womb" ("Sermo De Nativitate
Domini", 4).

Some important Greek manuscripts and early translations add at the end
of the verse: "Blessed are you among women!", meaning that God will
exalt Mary over all women. She is more excellent than Sarah, Hannah,
Deborah, Rachel, Judith, etc., for only she has the supreme honor of
being chosen to be the Mother of God.

29-30. Our Lady is troubled by the presence of the archangel and by the
confusion truly humble people experience when they receive praise.

30. The Annunciation is the moment when our Lady is given to know the
vocation which God planned for her from eternity. When the archangel
sets her mind at ease by saying, "Do not be afraid, Mary," he is
helping her to overcome that initial fear which a person normally
experiences when God gives him or her a special calling. The fact that
Mary felt this fear does not imply the least trace of imperfection in
her: hers is a perfectly natural reaction in the face of the
supernatural. Imperfection would arise if one did not overcome this
fear or rejected the advice of those in a position to help--as St.
Gabriel helped Mary.

31-33. The archangel Gabriel tells the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is
to be the Mother of God by reminding her of the words of Isaiah which
announced that the Messiah would be born of a virgin, a prophecy which
will find its fulfillment in Mary (cf. Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14).

He reveals that the Child will be "great": His greatness comes from His
being God, a greatness He does not lose when He takes on the lowliness
of human nature. He also reveals that Jesus will be the king of the
Davidic dynasty sent by God in keeping with His promise of salvation;
that His Kingdom will last forever, for His humanity will remain
forever joined to His divinity; that "He will be called Son of the Most
High", that is that He really will be the Son of the Most High and will
be publicly recognized as such, that is, the Child will be the Son of
God.

The archangel's announcement evokes the ancient prophecies which
foretold these prerogatives. Mary, who was well-versed in Sacred
Scripture, clearly realized that she was to be the Mother of God.

34-38. Commenting on this passage John Paul II said: "`Virgo fidelis',
the faithful Virgin. What does this faithfulness of Mary mean? What
are the dimensions of this faithfulness? The first dimension is called
search. Mary was faithful first of all when she began, lovingly, to
seek the deep sense of God's plan in her and for the world. `Quomodo
fiet?' How shall this be?, she asked the Angel of the Annunciation
[...]."

"The second dimension of faithfulness is called reception, acceptance.
The `quomodo fiet?' is changed, on Mary's lips, to a `fiat': Let it be
done, I am ready, I accept. This is the crucial moment of
faithfulness, the moment in which man perceives that he will never
completely understand the `how': that there are in God's plan more
areas of mystery than of clarity; that is, however he may try, he will
never succeed in understanding it completely[...]."

"The third dimension of faithfulness is consistency to live in
accordance with what one believes; to adapt one's own life to the
object of one's adherence. To accept misunderstanding, persecutions,
rather than a break between what one practises and what one believes:
this is consistency[...]."

"But all faithfulness must pass the most exacting test, that of
duration. Therefore, the fourth dimension of faithfulness is
constancy. It is easy to be consistent for a day or two. It is
difficult and important to be consistent for one's whole life. It is
easy to be consistent in the hour of enthusiasm, it is difficult to be
so in the hour of tribulation. And only a consistency that lasts
throughout the whole life can be called faithfulness. Mary's `fiat' in
the Annunciation finds its fullness in the silent `fiat' that she
repeats at the foot of the Cross" ("Homily in Mexico City Cathedral",
26 January 1979).

34. Mary believed in the archangel's words absolutely; she did not
doubt as Zechariah had done (cf. 1:18). Her question, "How can this
be?", expresses her readiness to obey the will of God even though at
first sight it implied a contradiction: on the one hand, she was
convinced that God wished her to remain a virgin; on the other, here
was God also announcing that she would become a mother. The archangel
announces God's mysterious design, and what had seemed impossible,
according to the laws of nature, is explained by a unique intervention
on the part of God.

Mary's resolution to remain a virgin was certainly something very
unusual, not in line with the practice of righteous people under the
Old Covenant, for, as St. Augustine explains, "particularly attentive
to the propagation and growth of the people of God, through whom the
Prince and Savior of the world might be prophesied and be born, the
saints were obliged to make use of the good of matrimony" ("De Bono
Matrimonii", 9, 9). However, in the Old Testament, there were some who,
in keeping with God's plan, did remain celibate--for example, Jeremiah,
Elijah, Eliseus and John the Baptist. The Blessed Virgin, who received
a very special inspiration of the Holy Spirit to practise virginity, is
a first-fruit of the New Testament, which will establish the excellence
of virginity over marriage while not taking from the holiness of the
married state, which it raises to the level of a sacrament (cf.
"Gaudium Et Spes", 48).

35. The "shadow" is a symbol of the presence of God. When Israel was
journeying through the wilderness, the glory of God filled the
Tabernacle and a cloud covered the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus
40:34-36). And when God gave Moses the tablets of the Law, a cloud
covered Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:15-16); and also, at the Transfiguration
of Jesus the voice of God the Father was heard coming out of a cloud
(Luke 9:35).

At the moment of the Incarnation the power of God envelops our Lady--an
expression of God's omnipotence. The Spirit of God--which, according
to the account in Genesis (1:2), moved over the face of the waters,
bringing things to life--now comes down on Mary. And the fruit of her
womb will be the work of the Holy Spirit. The Virgin Mary, who herself
was conceived without any stain of sin (cf. Pius IX, "Ineffabilis
Deus") becomes, after the Incarnation, a new tabernacle of God. This
is the mystery we recall every day when saying the Angelus.

38. Once she learns of God's plan, our Lady yields to God's will with
prompt obedience, unreservedly. She realizes the disproportion between
what she is going to become--the Mother of God--and what she is--a
woman. However, this is what God wants to happen and for Him nothing
is impossible; therefore no one should stand in His way. So Mary,
combining humility and obedience, responds perfectly to God's call:
"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done according to
your word."

"At the enchantment of this virginal phrase, the Word became flesh"
([Blessed] J. Escriva, "Holy Rosary", first joyful mystery). From the
pure body of Mary, God shaped a new body, He created a soul out of
nothing, and the Son of God united Himself with this body and soul:
prior to this He was only God; now He is still God but also man. Mary
is now the Mother of God. This truth is a dogma of faith, first
defined by the Council of Ephesus (431). At this point she also begins
to be the spiritual Mother of all mankind. What Christ says when He is
dying--`Behold, your son..., behold, your mother" (John
19:26-27)--simply promulgates what came about silently at Nazareth.
"With her generous `fiat' (Mary) became, through the working of the
Spirit, the Mother of God, but also the Mother of the living, and, by
receiving into her womb the one Mediator, she became the true Ark of
the Covenant and true Temple of God" (Paul VI, "Marialis Cultus", 6).

The Annunciation shows us the Blessed Virgin as perfect model of
"purity" (the RSV "I have no husband" is a euphemism); of "humility"
("Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord"); of "candor" and "simplicity"
("How can this be?"); of "obedience" and "lively faith" ("Let it be done
to me according to your word"). "Following her example of obedience to
God, we can learn to serve delicately without being slavish. In Mary,
we don't find the slightest trace of the attitude of the foolish
virgins, who obey, but thoughtlessly. Our Lady listens attentively to
what God wants, ponders what she doesn't fully understand and asks about
what she doesn't know. Then she gives herself completely to doing the
divine will: `Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to
me according to your word'. Isn't that marvellous? The Blessed
Virgin, our teacher in all we do, shows us here that obedience to God
is not servile, does not bypass our conscience. We should be inwardly
moved to discover the `freedom of the children of God' (cf. Romans
8:21)" ([St] J. Escriva, "Christ Is Passing By", 173).

Source: "The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries". Biblical text
taken from the Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries
made by members of the Faculty of Theology of the University of
Navarre, Spain. Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock,
Co. Dublin, Ireland.