The fact of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary is related in Luke 1:26-38. The Evangelist tells us that in the sixth month after the conception of St. John the Baptist by Elizabeth, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to the Virgin Mary, at Nazareth, a small town in the mountains of Galilee. Mary was of the house of David, and was espoused (i.e. married) to Joseph, of the same royal family. She had, however, not yet entered the household of her spouse, but was still in her mother's house, working, perhaps, over her dowry. (Bardenhewer, Maria Verk., 69). And the angel having taken the figure and the form of man, came into the house and said to her: "Hail, full of grace (to whom is given grace, favoured one), the Lord is with thee." Mary having heard the greeting words did not speak; she was troubled in spirit, since she knew not the angel, nor the cause of his coming, nor the meaning of the salutation. And the angel continued and said: "Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end." The Virgin understood that there was question of the coming Redeemer. But, why should she be elected from amongst women for the splendid dignity of being the mother of the Messiah, having vowed her virginity to God? (St. Augustine). Therefore, not doubting the word of God like Zachary, but filled with fear and astonishment, she said: "How shall this be done, because I know not man?"
The angel to remove Mary's anxiety and to assure her that her virginity would be spared, answered: "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." In token of the truth of his word he made known to her the conception of St. John, the miraculous pregnancy of her relative now old and sterile: "And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth; she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: because no word shall be impossible with God." Mary may not yet have fully understood the meaning of the heavenly message and how the maternity might be reconciled with her vow of virginity, but clinging to the first words of the angel and trusting to the Omnipotence of God she said: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word."
Since 1889 Holzmann and many Protestant writers have tried to show that the verses Luke 1:34-35, containing the message of conception through the Holy Ghost are interpolated. Usener derives the origin of the "myth" from the heathen hero worship; but Harnack tries to prove that it is of Judaic origin (Isaiah 7:14, Behold a Virgin shall conceive, etc.). Bardenhewer, however, has fully established the authenticity of the text (p. 13). St. Luke may have taken his knowledge of the event from an older account, written in Aramaic or Hebrew. The words: "Blessed art thou among women" (v. 28), are spurious and taken from verse 42, the account of the Visitation. Cardinal Cajetan wanted to understand the words: "because I know not man", not of the future, but only of the past: up to this hour I do not know man. This manifest error, which contradicts the words of the text, has been universally rejected by all Catholic authors. The opinion that Joseph at the time of the Annunciation was an aged widower and Mary twelve or fifteen years of age, is founded only upon apocryphal documents. The local tradition of Nazareth pretends that the angel met Mary and greeted her at the fountain, and when she fled from him in fear, he followed her into the house and there continued his message. (Buhl, Geogr. v. Palaest., 1896.) The year and day of the Annunciation cannot be determined as long as new material does not throw more light on the subject. The present date of the feast (25 March) depends upon the date of the older feast of Christmas.
The Annunciation is the beginning of Jesus in His human nature. Through His mother He is a member of the human race. If the virginity of Mary before, during, and after the conception of her Divine Son was always considered part of the deposit of faith, this was done only on account of the historical facts and testimonials. The Incarnation of the Son of God did not in itself necessitate this exception from the laws of nature. Only reasons of expediency are given for it, chiefly, the end of the Incarnation. About to found a new generation of the children of God, The Redeemer does not arrive in the way of earthly generations: the power of the Holy Spirit enters the chaste womb of the Virgin, forming the humanity of Christ. Many holy fathers (Sts. Jerome, Cyril, Ephrem, Augustine) say that the consent of Mary was essential to the redemption. It was the will of God, St. Thomas says (Summa III:30), that the redemption of mankind should depend upon the consent of the Virgin Mary. This does not mean that God in His plans was bound by the will of a creature, and that man would not have been redeemed, if Mary had not consented. It only means that the consent of Mary was foreseen from all eternity, and therefore was received as essential into the design of God.
Text shared from the Catholic Encyclopedia
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Next Sunday reflection
Annunciation
Next Sunday exactly 9 months before Christmas we celebrate the annunciation of the Birth of Jesus. We remember this with gratitude to God for informing Mary the mother of Jesus that the saviour or the Messiah or the Christ was to be born. Today we celebrate this event in a happy mood. But to comprehend the in depth of this happening it is necessary to have a sound understanding of the background of this occurrence.
This message was given to a young virgin from a village who was engaged to a carpenter. They would have had their own dreams of making a happy family and to have children of their own. Then when Mary received this message from the angel Gabriel all their dreams would have shattered into pieces. This is where we get the climax of this experience. That is the way they faced this challenge.
In that society if a young woman got pregnant before the marriage the punishment was stone to death. Not only in that society even today in some countries they have punishments of this nature. Joseph and Mary took the risk and faced this situation. What was this risk? This risk was the openness to the unknown future. This openness was their faith to fulfil the will and purpose of God to redeem the world.
If we are willing to have faith in God we cannot avoid this risk. We should take calculated risks to promote the will of God in our world. But often we are reluctant to take risks and be open to the future. This cannot be developed at once. First of all we should learn to have our trust in God and our sisters and brothers.
Without any doubt most of you would tell me that we can trust God but it is so hard to trust people. Yes, this is true. But this is where we develop our faith. It is impossible to have faith in God without having faith in our sisters and brothers.
That’s why Jesus said that when you offer your sacrifice at the altar if you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift at the altar and reconcile with your brother and then come and offer your sacrifice.
Mary had to have faith in Joseph and most probably with some people close to them. Joseph had to have faith in Mary. On this circle of trust and faith God was able to use them to fulfil his will and purpose to bring redemption to our world.
Are we ready to have this faith of Mary?
Very often when are called to take risks to fulfil the purposes of God we runaway and try to give all sorts of excuses to justify ourselves. But that rural village girl called Mary is challenging us today to consider taking calculated risks to be part of the redemption plan of God.
Let’s ask God to grant his grace to become active members of his kingdom to fulfil his will and purpose.