4th Advent
Luke 1: 26-38
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| Fra Angelico |
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
toward her, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was 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 bear a son and you shall
call him Jesus.
He will be great, and will be called the Son of the most High,
And the Lord your God will give him the Throne of David your father.
And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever;
And his kingdom will have no end. “
And Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I have never 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 is
spoken in the worlds of the spirit that does not have the power to become
reality on earth.”
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the
Lord’s handmaid; may it be to me according to your word. “
And the angel departed from her.
4th Advent Sunday
Luke 1:26
– 38
“In the beginning, when God/Elohim began to create the
heavens and the earth, the earth was without form and void, and darkness was on
the face of the deep; And Elohim’s Spirit Breath fluttered over the face of the
waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light.’ And there was light. And God saw
that the light was good.” Genesis 1: 1-3
This beginning of creation describes how the empty, watery
darkness is warmed and moved by the creative spirit-breath of God. Something
similar is announced to Mary by the angel Gabriel: “The breath of the Holy
Spirit will come upon you, and (like a cloud) the dynamic power of the Most
High will overshadow you. Because of this, the offspring born of you will be
called Son of God.” Luke 1:35
The same Spirit-Breath, the Word of God that brought the
world into existence, now brings forth, within His Creation, from His creature—himself, the Light of the world. An astonishing inversion!
Mary’s response is threefold: At first she is greatly
troubled. It is perhaps not so strange that the soul begins to ripple and
shudder as the Spirit-Breath begins to breathe over its depths. And then,
almost equally amazingly, she begins to question. She ponders the how. The
underlying tentative soul gesture here seems to be: can I move with this? Go
along with it? This is the soul beginning to open.
The third part of her response is assent. She humbly aligns
her will with the greatness of God’s purpose and intention. It is a great purpose, for this is nothing
less than the beginning of a new creation. For with Christ Jesus, humankind would
be given a new ancestor. Just as Adam was the mortal
body’s forefather, so is
Christ the new Adam, the Adam of the immortal human soul and spirit.
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| Aidan Hart |
The first creation came into being simply because God said
so: “Let there be”…and it was so. But the second creation requires human
cooperation and participation. Mary is the archetype of the human soul willing
to do its part to make the world new. But hers is likewise a soul that asks for
the light of understanding; for she questions, wondering where and how she fits
in. The explanation that God want to create His Son through her opens her soul.
Awed fear that stimulates questioning and finally
assent—this is the path of the soul as it joins in God’s plans. In the second
creation, God’s Spirit Breath says “Let my Son, the Light of the World, be born
through you.” And there is light, because
the human soul is willing to seek it, generate it, give birth to it. And God sees
that the Light is good.
