's announcement to Mary (Luke 1, 26-37)
Dear friends and brothers in Jesus Christ
I can not speak of the birth Jesus if I'm not talking about the announcement to Mary, who is listing the "red thread" of any Christic the frame, that is to say, the history of our salvation. Indeed, Christ was not born a "magic wand", although his birth is surrounded by so many divine signs and miracles inexplicable.
Here is the text of the Gospel of Luke, where he explains how God chose to use a humble creature in order to fulfill our hello:
"In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God in a city of Galilee named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man of the house of David, named Joseph. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel came to her and said, Hail, thou to whom a pardon was made, the Lord is with thee. Troubled by these words, Mary wondered what it meant such a greeting. The angel said: Fear not Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. It 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. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and His kingdom will have no end. Mary asked the angel, How shall this be he, since I know not a man? The angel answered, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow. So the holy child born will be called the Son of God. Here, Elizabeth, your relative, has designed, also a son in his old age, and one that was called barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God. " (Luke 1, 26-37)
Here we are informed as to time and place: It was the "six months" , "in a city of Galilee named Nazareth .
What happens then?
"The angel Gabriel was sent from God."
And who was he sent this great heavenly messenger?
"to a virgin betrothed to a man of the house of David, named Joseph" . Her name was Mary.
When you consult the Fathers of the Church, we realize very quickly that all or substantially commented on the Gospel of Luke, and it is very interesting to see how - specific to each - which they deal with these first lines.
St. Basil, in his "Commentary on Isaiah, we noted that the angels are not sent for" small jobs ", but for many important tasks, because " celestial spirits - he said - not just us of their own, God sends them when our utility required, because their occupation is to contemplate the splendor of divine wisdom. "
Saint Gregory the Great, for his part, said the angel sent to Mary, not anyone: "It is not any angel but the archangel Gabriel who is sent to the Virgin Mary. He belonged, in fact, that greatest of angels come to announce the biggest events. Scripture gives it a special and significant name, his name is Gabriel, meaning Strength of God. So that was the strength of God that was reserved to announce the birth of the God of hosts, the fort in the fighting that had triumph over the powers of the air. "
And if you had the idea to ask the question: why was such an important messenger he sent a humble virgin, here's what you could meet St. Jerome in his "Sermon on the Dormition"
"It is with reason that an angel is sent to a virgin because virginity has always been united by close ties with the angels. In fact, live in the flesh, without obeying the dictates of the flesh, this is not the life of the earth, that's life from heaven. "
But he is not the only one who can answer your question, to explain to you why such a great honor to Mary expired. Listen to Augustine, the great Bishop of Hippo:
"Virginity alone was worthy to bear him in his birth, could be equal. Our leader, a brilliant miracle, was born of a virgin in the flesh, and given and the Virgin Church would give its members a completely spiritual birth "(On the Blessed Virgin, chap. 15).
I understand that you can smile at the notion of virginity that emerges from these texts, especially when it is said that the virgin in question "was engaged to a man of the house of David, named Joseph."
Indeed, in our time, no one home, unfortunately, no importance, I would say that virginity is ridiculed by most men and women of our time ... Who would believe, nowadays, that two can remain engaged in their chaste love virgins in their daily lives? And yet, believe me, that no gift is more beautiful for two lovers who marry than to offer one to another, the day of their wedding, their mutual virginity!
... It is far my friends, the time when people thought that "this noble ideal of virginity, valuable to all those which are beautiful in the purity falls to only those that grace benevolent God help in the struggle to realize their good desire " (Gregory of Nyssa: From virginity chap. 1). Indeed, our time is "infested" by the "smoke of Satan" and all indications are that things will go from bad to worse, because I think we came to this unlucky period for which Christ and for which he asked: "Upon my return, I find faith on earth? "
But back to Gabriel and his" Hail Mary ". What he said, the great messenger?
It begins with a polite all divine, all friendly:
"Hail, thou to whom a pardon was made, the Lord is with thee" . Other translations say "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."
Anyway, we both remember this beautiful prayer that we recite every day, several times - I am sure you recite the rosary - in the day, making it filial homage to one who, in addition to be the Mother of Jesus is also our Mother.
It would not be surprising that in saying this the angel Gabriel was bowed to the girl that original sin, except by grace, had not soiled. This announcement Marie
disorder, because even though she knew - she was brought to the Temple and thus knew the Scriptures - that the Messiah was born, she thought certainly not for a moment that the honor that motherhood would fail him.
But the angel reassures "Do not be afraid, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Jesus. "
He could still say, as we explained St. Augustine "It is with you is it with me, for he himself is in your heart, it is there in your body, it fills your soul, it fills your womb ". But perhaps Mary would not understand ...
must admit that it was entitled to such a surprising announcement, she was a virgin and had probably remain so.
His reaction will be quite natural and consistent with her education, she astonished questions: "How can this be he, since I know not a man? ". In other words: How Will it be possible because I am a virgin and intend to remain?
soon the Angel Gabriel reassures her, explains how this will happen:
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow. "
So the fact that the Holy Spirit come upon her and that God's power overshadows the fact generate in the womb of the Virgin Being who is above all being. "Therefore, says the Angel, the holy child born will be called the Son of God." This divine power
not eliminate, the state "physics" of Mary, quite the contrary, students at Heavenly, makes more than the Angels themselves.
It is good to remember here that the "the virgin was betrothed to a man of the house of David, named Joseph" and recall another fact that seems important and that St. Ambrose of Milan, in his commentary to Luke's Gospel, implies: the words of the angel and the responses of Mary, about virginity:
"The virginity of Mary - says the holy Bishop of Milan - should deceive the prince of this world, who, seeing her united to a husband, has been wary of his birth. "
For the prince of this world was wrong, he had the words, both those of the Angel Gabriel to Mary that those remaining in the field of interior phrase - a kind of telepathy, extrapolating a bit - because the devil is not permitted by God to play in human thought. He can make suggestions, and he does not deny, but he can not, under any circumstances, read the mind of man. For if he had heard the salutation of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, he would have had no doubts about the origins of Jesus, he would not say later, when the temptation in the desert: "If thou art the Son, throw yourself down " (Mt 4, 6). The "if" used here suggests that demonstrates or even Satan did not know at this time - at least at the beginning of temptation - that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God.
This interpretation seems to corroborate that of the holy Doctor of the Church, because he wrote shortly after: "This phrase does not give us reason to believe that the word is served rather than heard. This is not an articulate speech ", therefore, it is probably a phrase inside, as I said above, who took away any possibility to Satan intervention and persecution against Mary and the Child she would now be in it.
But, back to the text of St. Luke. The angel said unto Mary: "Behold, Elizabeth, your relative has also conceived a son in his old age, and one that was called barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God. "
The angel tells him that "his cousin Elizabeth conceived a son in his old age" ended his message with a sentence clear, but we often forget: "For nothing is impossible with God."
I invite my friends, to meditate on these words alone explain so many things that we see but our Cartesian mind and obtuse often refuses to believe.
May peace and love of Jesus Christ inhabit your hearts and your souls. Amen.
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