An Angel comes visiting how do you respond

Some one came and  told  a man working on the  18^th floor of  a busy  office  complex  “John your daughter Ruth  died in an car accident”. This  man rushed down and when he came to the 12th   floor  he realized that he does not have a daughter. When he came to the 5^th floor he realized he was not  married and  when  he reached the ground floor he became  aware that he is not  John.

Friends we are  living in a  busy  and stressed world that when we  hear  any  bad news we think it is for us  and we are  tuned to listening to bad news only.

It is in such a World that we have Angel  Gabriel come and give  us  good news.  A young village  girl is told that  she will be the Mother of Our Lord which is  called  “The  Annunciation to Mary”.

Annunciation simply means  an  Announcement.

Let us understand the   context this  announcement was made.

Context

Mary was the daughter of  Heli of the  tribe of  Judah which is the  royal lineage of  David. She must have  been in her  teens like  16 or 17 years and   lived in Nazareth. She was already engaged to Joseph.  The timing is  about  the year  5  BC when Gabriel appeared to  Mary. The name  Mary  in Hebrew means   bitterness.  If  you  recollect  Naomi the mother in law of  Ruth  wanted to be  called  Mara which is bitterness.   So you see that God is using a name which means bitterness to bring Sweetness  to Earth and Mankind

Gabriel  and Mary

We have Gabriel  meeting Mary  and  saying  Greetings you who are highly  favored.  On earlier  times  Gabriel met with Daniel in the Old Testament and explained visions to him and just earlier to meeting Mary he met  Zechariah to whom he first said  Do not be afraid.  It is interesting that the High Priest  is told “ Do not be afraid”  where as a young girl is given “ Greetings from the Lord”.

Mary was highly Favoured   by God. If you or  I  were  met by  Gabriel today and told that  we are  highly favoured by God how will we  respond?  When a  King  favours you it implies a  sense of being overwhelmed at the trust put in you.    Similar emotions  would  have  gone through Mary’s mind  which  prompted Gabriel to  reassure with a  Do not be afraid and  he explains in detail the  Divine plan and will.  In her short life of 16 odd years she was able to live in a manner for God to favour her.  It was not her goal to be favoured of God, yet because of the quality of her lifestyle we have this outcome.

Mary’s Qualities

What are the qualities of  Mary  which led to a confluence of divine of Human. We notice four distinct qualities:

Faith :  She has  absolute faith  in her God whereas  Zechariah  had a  doubt  whether   he and Elisabeth will have a child.  Which is a   natural process.  Where as  Mary being a virgin had a  reality orientation but quickly realizes the prophesy  in   Isaiah 7: 14  which   is  “There fore the Lord himself  will give you  a  sign:  The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Emmanuel.” She therefore expresses her  Faith.  She did not also  check with Elisabeth which she could have done. ( we can say she had this limitation since she did not have a cell phone!

Courage:  The law in Jewish tradition  is extremely severe if a  woman who is engaged is pregnant by some one other than her  husband. She will be stoned to death. 
What is also common today  is the  social  ostracism  of  having a child out of wedlock.  This could have been a natural consequence.  She does not  consult  Joseph to give her consent to the angel. She  had the courage to face the consequences  of her submitting to Gods will.  Submitting to  God’s will may mean not being conformed to the world,   are  we willing to do so?

Submission:  She says “ I am the Lords servant  “   there is  total submission  to Gods will.  In the  magnificat  she says  the Lord has been mindful of the Humble state of his servant and  also says my soul rejoices in God my saviour. She did not let  her self come into being  to say “ God my son”.  There is also  Humility  in this  Submission.

Spiritual Mindedness:  If you read the Magnificat   there  are  verses from the Psalms and the song of Hannah. Mary was  really well read  in the scriptures so she was able to spontaneously  express her  joy. She not only read but understood the  scriptures.

We have  read this many times  but do we really understand the  power of the  Magnificat?     Let us take a  moment to understand the message in  the  Magnificat.

The song of Mary has  beauty poetry and piety in it yet it is also  explosive and revolutionary.

At this advent  let us revisit the  call of the Magnificat.

There is  a call for  Moral   revolution “He has scattered those who are  proud in their inmost thoughts”   this  is Death to Pride.

There is  a call for Social revolution  “ He has brought down rulers from  their  thrones but has lifted up the Humble” we need to end  Discrimination

An  economic revolution   ‘He  has sent away the rich empty “ This is  death to inequality.

Let  us remember to make this  real in our lives and see how we can make a  change  in our  lives by letting pride,  discrimination and inequality die in us.

We don’t have to go too far. We can  do it first in our families. There  are those who  feel humiliated and discriminated in our own families.

In conclusion I would like to leave a thought with each one of us.

God  Chose  Mary to fulfill  his divine plan. I probably think that God does not work with contingency plans.  Here is  a Humble girl who is not  economically privileged. She has been living her life in a  modest and holy manner. There could have  been temptations  which she could have  succumbed to.

She has been living her  lifetime  in that manner.   I am not  aware if she read the weekly forecast in the newspaper of that time and I am definite she would not have  visited the palmists and astrologers of her time to know what is her future.

She had no idea that she will be chosen.  Yet she lives her  life in a holy manner irrespective of the consequences. In a world today  where we live  by cause and effect and conditions, here is  a young lady who is living a Holy and virtuous life because  she likes to be so.

Mary’s life can be  summarized as what St. Paul  urges each of us: There fore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy  and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual worship.  Do not   conform  any longer to  the pattern of this world , but be  transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Romans 12 1-2.

It is  such a life lived over a lifetime that God recognizes  and chooses  Mary to be a Part of the Salvation plan. Eve  by her actions brought us  death and Mary  by her purity brought us Jesus who Saves us from Death.

I am into recruitment of people and have   interviewed several people for jobs and I look for the people who are smart.   God does not choose the Smart and worldly  wise but rather he chooses the  Holy.   He chooses the Humble and marginalized.

How do we live our lives, can  God choose us to be a part of plan?

Our  world today still has many  who do not  know the  Lord and they are  thirsting for salvation or deliverance through cults, magic, drugs,  alcohol. Many are  emotionally and spiritually bankrupt.  There is  a need to be met.

Dear friends  if Jesus were  to call  you to  bring the good news of his Salvation to your community and work place  What  will you say?

Can we say “ I am the Lord’s servant , May it be to me as you have said.

Mary said that  2000 years ago and we are able to get the gift  of salvation.

May God grant each of us the humility and courage to say “ I am the Lord’s servant , May it be to me as you have said.’

We are  also  highly favoured by God that’s why  he allowed his Son to die so that we  may live.  Being favoured how do we respond to God when He calls us?

Lets ponder on this idea as well during this advent  season..