The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary (or simply TAoOLJCttBVM)

Have you started your Christmas shopping yet? We are only nine short months away from the big day! Before you know it retailers will be exchanging their Cadbury eggs for candy canes, the holiday songs will start filling stores with cheer, and we will wait expectantly for Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick to come down the chimney. We can laugh at this, but my grandmother, Nangy, often would tell me excitedly on our way to the beach in the summer that she had finished all her Christmas shopping. I would snicker, but pretty soon I realized that she was being serious.

The commercial and secular versions of Christmas tend to infuriate me; however, I appreciated that my Nangy would spend months thinking about how she would celebrate the birth of God into this world with her family. My grandmother’s desire to get ready for Christmas year round encourages me to ponder more deeply this moment when Mary begins preparing to bear God Incarnate into this world. What was it like for Mary to encounter Gabriel?

There is a piece of altar artwork that hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, Italy. The golden backdrop that Simone Martini employed presents an immaculate setting for the very first moment of Gabriel’s conversation with Mary. Carefully examining the artwork shows that the angelic messenger’s words are visually depicted on the wooden piece; the original Greek words fly from Gabriel’s mouth towards Mary. Less careful examination is required to see that Mary does not want anything to do with the messenger of God.

In this Gothic era painting, Gabriel kneels at Mary’s feet. Mary bends away from the angel’s words. Gabriel looks longingly at this highly favored lady. Mary pulls a veil to cover her ears from the greeting, and she looks away from the winged creature. Highly praised as Martini’s masterpiece, this artistic vision perfectly captures the skepticism that envelopes the start of Mary’s journey. When Gabriel speaks, “Greetings favored one! The Lord is with you!” I cannot help but hear his message in the tone of a telemarketer calling at the most inopportune moment, “Grrrreeetings favored one! YOU are theeaaa BIIIIIGGG WINNER! The Lord is with you!”

Mary’s journey begins with apprehension, as she is perplexed by Gabriel’s words. She ponders all these things in her heart and wonders what sort of greeting this might be. The angel not wanting to be denied continues his persuasion, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God,” then he promises her son, Jesus, will be great, the Son of the Most High. Mary knows there has to be a catch, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The protestation of Mary seems a completely human response. How often do we turn God away with our excuses? I do not have the time, the money, or the strength to do this God. Yet, Gabriel continues, “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 holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God."

It is in this moment that everything changes. It is in this moment that something clicks within Mary.
A fresco of the Annunciation completed by Fra Angelico depicts this moment. Gabriel announcing something deeply personal to Mary, that her barren cousin will bear a child, shifts the trajectory of our relationship with God. Mary instead of leaning away, angels towards the angel. She mimics Gabriel’s posture. It is in this moment that Mary says yes. She takes the impossible with God. “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.”

For nine months she would possess within her the Incarnate God. What a mysterious time for Mary! And, what a mysterious time for us! God desires for us to bear Jesus into the world. God speaks to us urging us to bring Christ into this aching existence. Christmas is not just a season that we celebrate in December, the Incarnate God comes to us every day! Let us be ready for Christ’s coming, not just with candy and music, but with open hearts, expectant souls, listening ears, and excited spirits. Amen.