4th Advent 2022, Become . . .

 4^th Advent

Luke 1:26-38 

Martin Schongauer

During the sixth month, the angel Gabriel
was sent from God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth to a maiden engaged to a man named Joseph of the descendants of David, and the maiden's name was Mary. And coming in, he said to her, "Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you." 

But she was confused at those words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord your God will give him the throne of his father David. And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever. And his kingdom will have no end."

 And Mary said to the angel, "How will this be, since I have not known a man?" 

And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason, the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your kinswoman Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For no word of God will be impossible." [For no word is spoken by God that does not have the power to become reality on earth.]

And Mary said, "Behold, the Lord's handmaid; may it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. 

4^th Advent

December 18, 2022

Luke 1:26–38  

“No word is spoken in the worlds of the
spirit that does not have the power to become reality on earth.” Luke 1:37  

In the beginning, God spoke. “Let there be…” he said. And gradually, all of the created world appeared. And with it, there arose, as its centerpiece, the human being, made as a picture of God, made to be, like God, a creator. God’s word, spoken in the world of the spirit, became earthly reality. 

To Mary and Elizabeth, God spoke again and conveyed His words through His messenger Gabriel. “You will conceive and bear a son.”  And it happens—both the virginal and the barren become fruitful. Because no word is spoken in the world of the spirit that does not have the power to become reality on the earth. 

Today God speaks again to all of us. He speaks but a single word, but a word of infinite and varied possibilities: 

“Become.” 

To creation, to fruitfulness is added the impetus of becoming, of changing and evolving, of metamorphosis. Just what we are to become is left unstated, for that choice has been handed over to us. 

Oleg Shuplyak

As humanity, we are no longer virginal and simple. But we have eons of human history, human experience, and accumulated wisdom to advise us. And we are made in God’s image. We can accept the task with Mary’s humility. We can receive this seed-word into our souls. We can conceive it, in our being, in our actions, and in our understanding. 

Just after the incident described in today’s gospel, Mary rises up and sets out on a journey to join her kinswoman Elizabeth. So we, too, having heard the word, can set off along a path to join others, to do the work of becoming, of developing, of transubstantiating. Now it is not only we who are to change. Now it is our task to help metamorphose creation. We are to transubstantiate bread and wine into God’s body and blood. We are to convert earthly matter into matters of the spirit for the help and healing of all the earth.

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