The Annunciation by Michelangelo
Caravaggio, 1608
“Hail,
full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
Lk 1:28
“Conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit,
and born of the Virgin Mary”
Creed
at Mass
December 18, 2011, 4th
Sunday of Advent
II Samuel 7:1-5 Romans
16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
Alleluia, alleluia.
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke
Glory to you, Lord.
In the sixth month of
Elizabeth’s pregnancy God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee named
Nazareth, with a message for a girl promised in marriage to a man named Joseph,
who was a descendant of King David. The girl’s name was Mary. The angel
approached her and said, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.” But she
was greatly troubled by the angel’s, message, and she wondered what his words
meant. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor
with God. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name
him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the
Lord God will give Him the throne of David His father, and He will rule over
the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end!”
The Gospel of the Lord.
Praise
to you, Lord Jesus Christ.
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Introduction
The
season to light candles
Today
December 18, 2011, is the fourth and last Sunday of Advent. Today, the Christian community lights
the fourth candle on the Advent wreath.
Wednesday December 21 is the first day of Hanukkah, when the Jewish
community lights the first of the eight candles of the menorah candelabra. Then
Thursday December 22 will
be the first day of winter. The Old
Farmers' Almanac shows the period between December 17 and 25 as the darkest
of the year. Those days have fifteen long hours of darkness and only nine short
hours of light. No wonder this is the season to light candles
Late Advent’s specialty: telling stories
The
second part of Advent (called Late Advent or the Novena of Christmas) began yesterday,
December 17. The scripture readings for Late Advent specialize in what
Christmas does best: they tell stories. They tell
the story of the angel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she would conceive of
the Holy Spirit. (Lk 1:26-38) They tell the story of Mary hurrying over hill
country to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who needs help in her pregnancy. (Lk
1:39-45) They tell the story of Mary and Joseph not finding any room in an inn,
and their seeking refuge in a stable where Mary gives birth to Jesus. (Lk
2:1-7) They tell the story of an angel announcing tidings of great joy to
shepherds keeping watch over their flock by night, and their finding an infant
wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. (Lk 2:8-20)
`Virginal conception’ doesn’t
fly well
At Mass on this fourth and last Sunday of
Advent (Cycle B), Dec. 18, 2011, we tell the story of the angel Gabriel
announcing to Mary her virginal conception of Jesus. The angel tells Mary that
the Holy Spirit will come upon her, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow her, and the child born of her will be called the Son of God. (Lk
1:35) Then at Mass on Dec. 24 (the Vigil of Christmas), we tell the story of an
angel announcing Mary’s pregnancy to Joseph, and that takes him totally by
surprise. (M 1:18-20)
The story of Mary’s virginal conception of
Jesus doesn’t fly well in our culture, where breasts are bared and bursting,
and where torsos are twisting and turning, on TV all day long. Such a culture
dismisses the virginal conception of Jesus as not very serious, or as quite
incomprehensible, or even as offensive to human nature.
That being so, how in the world can we
tell our young ones (without tongue-in-cheek) the Christmas story of Mary
virginally conceiving Jesus? How is it possible to tell them the story in such
a way as not to sound incomprehensible or offensive? Not only that, but also
and especially, how is it possible to tell the story of Mary’s virginal
conception of Jesus to this generation (and also to ourselves) in such a way as
to suffuse it with religious meaning? That’s a task that is long overdue.
A positive statement about Jesus
As Catholics for centuries recited the
Creed at Mass, which proclaims that Jesus was “conceived by the power of the
Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary,” down deep in their heart of hearts,
they always felt that that was a kind of negative statement about sex. It is
not, and it cannot be, a negative statement about sex. It does not say, and it
cannot say, that when the Son
of God came into the world, it was below His dignity to be conceived in the
very same way that all other babies are conceived. That would be an affront to
every mother and father who bring a child into the world! Sex is not dirty! When He comes into the world Jesus
doesn’t need to be protected from being `naturally conceived’. The story of the
virginal conception of Jesus is not a negative statement about sex. Rather it
is a positive statement about Jesus; the story wants to say that Jesus is much
more than the gift of Joseph and Mary to us. He is, especially and above all, the
gift of the heavenly Father to us.
A positive statement about woman
The story of the virginal conception is
also a positive statement about woman. When the Novena of Christmas began yesterday
December 17, the gospel opened with that long male-ridden genealogy from
Matthew:
This
is the family record of Jesus Chr4ist who was a descendent of David, who was a
descendant of Abraham. Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob
begot Judah and his brothers. And Judah
The genealogy then continues through an endless litany of 42 generations of men begetting sons! (It’s so endless and boring that the celebrant at Mass is permitted to cut it short.)Who in the world ever heard of `men begetting babies!’ That male-ridden genealogy finally comes to a screeching halt with these words:
And
Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary, and it was of her [not of
Joseph] that Jesus who is called the Christ was born. (Mt 1:1-16)
A positive statement about man
The story of Mary’s virginal conception of
Jesus is also a positive statement about Joseph; he steps aside and resigns his
sexual prowess. He does so in order to let the message shine through that Jesus
is not just his gift to us; He is above all the gift of the Father in heaven.
Stepping aside is a big order for men who do not resign power and position easily,
and who like to be on center-stage. Mary, not Joseph is center-staged in the
Christmas drama. At the end of the day, men’s yen for center stage is the real
but unspoken reason why women never get ordained in the Catholic Church (except
by an act of disobedience). Joseph is a model for a male-ridden society and Church.
Conclusion
Born of the virgin Mary
We can defend with all our might the story
of Mary’s virginal conception of Jesus, as a miracle, but if we haven’t also discovered
its religious meaning, we haven’t
defended much at all. At the end of the day, the story says
that Jesus is more than Joseph and Mary’s gift to us; He is especially and above
all the heavenly Father’s gift. The story of Mary’s virginal conception of
Jesus also puts an end to all male-ridden genealogies, and calls attention to
women’s place in human history. Finally, the story paints Joseph as an exceptional
man, doing what men don’t like to do – stepping aside and giving up center
stage. When we have found the positive meaning of the story of Mary’s virginal
conception of Jesus, it will no longer be incomprehensible or offensive, but
will, in fact, be full of light, as we recite in the creed “Conceived
by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin
Mary.”
