Commentary of Fr. Fernando Armellini
A good Sunday to all.
The scene of the Annunciation is one of the most represented in art history. We find it painted in fresco in the middle of the 1st century in the vault of a cubicle of the Catacombs of Priscilla, and since then, it has been one of the most represented subjects in art history.
For centuries, Christians have been fond of this sweet and touching scene. We all know Simone Martini's masterpieces and the work of Fra Angelico that have fascinated entire generations. What happened next? In the 18th century, the Enlightenment arrived, and religious sensibilities changed. Everything that was not verifiably rationally was questioned, society became more secular, and historical and literary criticism of the gospel accounts began. Many doubts arose about the accounts, which were traditionally interpreted as chronicles of real events, but when they were critically analyzed, they turned out to be implausible or even inconsistent. Due to the questions raised by the Enlightenment, even the angel's encounter with Mary almost disappears from the pictorial themes.
So, should we blame the Enlightenment? Not! We are grateful to the Enlightenment because raising these questions led us to study and delve into the Semitic culture to understand the language of the evangelists. This has enabled us to understand the true meaning of the gospel narratives.
Concerning the Annunciation narrative, literary criticism has demonstrated that Luke did not intend to write a chronicle page; as we shall see, Luke composed this narrative, resorting to biblical imagery by referring to Old Testament texts. How did the events unfold? This is our legitimate curiosity, but that is not what Luke was interested in. He was only interested in one thing: to make us understand who Mary’s son is, who is this Jesus that she gave birth to, and what it meant for the history of humanity, the moment in which this woman's womb germinated the human life of the Son of God. Only we Christians believe that the son of Mary is God, who became one of us.
If we share our faith with a Muslim, he will look at us perplexed and bewildered. He will refer to the 99 names of Allah, the Creator, the Sublime, the Holy, the Immense, the Almighty, and he will say to us, how is it possible that he can become one of us who are mortal creatures of ashes, of dust kneaded into clay? What answer could we give him? Only one, that of love. God is love, infinite love. And it is reasonable that infinite love can go so far as to become one of us to show us in human form the beauty of the face of God. A face very different from the one we had imagined.
At the end of our analysis of this story, a spontaneous question will arise: when and how did Mary become aware that she would become the mother of the Son of God? This is the immediate answer: we will never know; we will never know if the annunciation was a material, verifiable event or if it was an inner revelation that took place in Mary. So, we will not approach this page of Luke to seek the answers to our legitimate curiosity but to grasp the message he wants to communicate.
Let's listen to how the story begins:
"In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a city of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the family of David; the virgin's name was Mary."
In these first verses, Luke gives us some valuable indications. The first is the time, 'it was the sixth month.' From a chronological point of view, this tells us little or nothing. We would have preferred it if he had told us the exact date, month, and day. Today, we can establish the year with some precision. It was 746 since the foundation of Rome, the twentieth year since Caesar Augustus received the title of emperor. If we had asked a citizen of Rome what important things happened that year, the first answer would have been the year of the 192nd Olympiad and then the year in which Maecenas, the politician, died in Rome, the great adviser of Augustus, and it is also the year of the death of the poet Horace, who, along with all the other intellectuals in Rome used to frequent the house of Maecenas; it was also the year in which Tiberius fought successfully in Pannonia and succeeded in subduing the Germanic tribes.
But what happened in Palestine that year if we were to ask? Certainly, he would not have mentioned the announcement to Mary; he would have said that it is the year 2O in which Herod the Great reigns, a friend of Octavius. We would have heard that in that same year, Herod had two of his sons killed. This is the story of about people, the one that is narrated in the books. Luke is interested in another story that began six months earlier. It is the sixth month since Zechariah received the announcement that Elizabeth would become pregnant with John the Baptist. It is the sixth month since the new history began, the history of fulfilling God's promises.
We have a history built by people according to their criteria, their dreams, their projects, their values, that of empires, dominators, and glorious victors of battles and wars. This history of people will be erased; nothing will remain; it will be swept away like chaff because this is temporary glory. But the history of God, dated in the sixth previous month, is the new history, destined to remain the history of God forever in which the names of all those who have placed their lives at the disposal of God's designs upon the world will appear.
The second indication is the place: a village in Galilee. Galilee was considered an unfaithful, semi-pagan region; it did not practice the pure religion of Jerusalem, of Judea; it was despised. Luke wants to tell us that it is precisely in this humanity that the Son of God will be present to bring his life. Nazareth was such an insignificant little village that it is never mentioned in the Old Testament. It was inhabited as early as 2000 B.C., then in the 6th century when the Babylonians came, they probably attacked and destroyed it, and for 300 years, only weeds grew there, and it was abandoned. Two hundred years before Christ, it came back to life. Excavations have uncovered caves, crushers, cisterns, silos, and on top of that, very poor houses were built.
At the time of Jesus, it was inhabited by simple and uneducated people so much that we remember when Philip says to Nathanael, 'We have found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth,' and Nathanael smilingly says, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth? Forget it.’ People’s eyes turned toward greatness: Rome, Olympia, Jerusalem. The gaze of God is not directed towards these greatnesses of men; it is directed towards that which does not count: The things that are insignificant to men are significant and important to God. Nazareth - Rome: the greatness of this world and the littleness which is greatness to God.
After these indications, Luke puts a virgin on the scene. What does he mean by this name? Of course, we do not intend to question the biological virginity of Mary, which the Christians have always affirmed, but we wonder if it is only this that Luke wants to affirm or if he also intends to refer to the biblical conception of virginity. In the social context of the Ancient Middle East, virginity was not what gave importance and dignity to women; it was motherhood.
Virginity was valued before marriage, not after; for a young woman, it was a dishonor to remain a virgin because it meant that she had not attracted anyone's gaze. Also, her life was like a dry tree that bore no fruit. That's the reason why, in the Bible, the term 'virgin' is given a derogatory connotation because it means deprived of life, without a future, without posterity.
In fact, in the most dramatic moments of its history, Israel, when it is defeated, Jerusalem, when it is humiliated, is called 'virgin Israel' - 'virgin Zion' and 'virgin Jerusalem' because if the Lord does not intervene, they are left without a future. The prophets often speak of 'virgin Israel,' 'virgin Zion,' and precisely at times when Israel has misbehaved, Jeremiah threatens her, 'You did horrible things, virgin Israel; you are reduced thus because you have been unfaithful to your God.' We often find this title given to Jerusalem and Israel, always when they are in lifeless situations.
What does Luke intend to tell us about Mary's virginity? Let us remember that he began his Gospel by presenting a woman, an old, barren woman, Elizabeth, who becomes fruitful when the Lord intervenes. It is precisely the image of humanity deprived of life that waits for God's intervention from heaven to resume life.
Then, in the second picture, Luke presents the Virgin Mary, who is barren; she is the personification of the 'virgin Zion,' of the virgin who only becomes fertile when the Lord fills her with love. Finally, this young woman’s name is indicated, a wonderful name, Mary, Miriam in Hebrew, an appropriate name because it means 'the exalted one,' the exalted one above the others. We note that many Marys appear in the Gospels. There is Mary of Magdala, Mary of Bethany, and Mary of James. How is it that this name was so fashionable? Most likely, the favorite of Herod the Great was Miriam, 'Mariame,' and this Miriam was, in fact, the mother of those two sons that Herod had killed in the year of the annunciation to Mary.
Let us now listen to the angel's announcement:
"And the angel came in unto her, and said unto her, Rejoice, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."
The first word that the angel addresses to Mary is an invitation to rejoice; more than an invitation, it is a command, an imperative, 'Rejoice' - 'χαίρε' - 'jaire' is a present imperative and should be translated as 'keep rejoicing, never stop.' It has been translated as 'Ave Maria' - 'I greet you, Mary' as if it were the usual formal and polite expression with which people address each other when they meet for the first time. None of this.
It is a solemn expression that the evangelist Luke chose with great care and went to look for it in the Old Testament. When an Israelite who knows the Scriptures hears this 'Rejoice,' שלום 'Romí' in Hebrew, he immediately hears the reference to some Old Testament texts that everyone knows because they are the promises of joy, goodness and hope that the prophets uttered in the name of God and addressed to Jerusalem.
In the Old Testament, this invitation to joy was never addressed to an individual, practically always to Zion and Israel. Zephaniah, in the third chapter—note the insistence on this invitation to joy addressed to Zion— 'Rejoice, daughter of Zion, Rejoice Israel, rejoice with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem, do not let your arms fall.' And then he gives the reason, 'The Lord your God is in your midst; this is the reason of your joy, O Israel, the Lord is in your midst.' But it is important to note that the Hebrew term used to say, 'in your midst' is 'bekirbech,' which means ‘in your bosom.’
In the bosom of Zion, the Lord is present; in this city of Jerusalem, the Lord is present, but in the womb of Mary, this Lord who is becoming one of us is now present. "Rejoice," says Zechariah in the second chapter, "rejoice, daughter of Zion, for I am coming, and I will pitch my tent in your midst.” This is why this joy is that the Lord is coming to pitch his tent amid these people. And in the womb of Mary, this Lord came to plant his tent to be Emmanuel, God with us. Even the prophet Joel has a promise, an invitation to joy, always directed to Zion.
Luke put in the mouth of the angel these promises of the prophets to tell us that in the virgin Mary were fulfilled all the prophecies which had been addressed to the daughter of Zion. Then he continues, "Rejoice, O beloved of God, 'κεχαριτωμένη' - 'kejaritomene' in Greek. It should be paraphrased more or less like this: 'Rejoice, O woman freely filled by God with all his good things.'
Through Mary, this declaration of love is addressed to Zion and all humanity; through Mary, all humanity is told, 'You are the beloved of God even though wars have marked your history, violence of all kinds, oppression of the weak, slavery, robberies, murders, massacres... Rejoice because his love for you is unconditional.' Maybe humanity thought God was tired of you, and maybe we think so today, too; maybe we think He is fed up with us and wants to do away with us, but no. Remember his declaration of love to all of us through Mary: 'You will always be the beloved of God, O humankind.'
Then, "The Lord is with you." It is a reaffirmation addressed to Mary, and this reaffirmation in the Bible was directed to those characters who are called to carry out a mission beyond human capabilities. It is addressed, for example, to Gideon, who must deliver Israel from the immensely stronger Midianites; it is addressed to David, who trembles at the thought of having to build the temple of the Lord; it is too great an undertaking that frightens him, 'The Lord is with you, David.' God turns to Mary because she is called to the highest of missions, to carry the Son of God in her womb, 'the Lord is with you.'
Let us now listen to Mary's reaction to the angel's words:
"When she heard it, she was bewildered and wondered what kind of greeting this was. The angel said to her: 'Do not be afraid, Mary, that you enjoy the favor of God. Behold, you will conceive and bear a son, whom you shall call Jesus. He will be great; he shall bear the title of the Son of the Most High; the Lord God shall give him the throne of his father David; he may reign over the House of Jacob forever, and his kingdom shall have no end."
When she hears the angel's greeting, Mary remains deeply troubled. The Greek verb used is 'διαταράσσω' – ‘database,' which indicates the agitation of the waves of the sea; it is this inner disturbance that Mary experiences because she sensed that she would be entrusted with a task that took her by surprise. We also experience this agitation when some event happens in our life that upsets our plans, our dreams, our designs, and we feel the need to be reassured by the word of the Lord who says to us as to Mary, "Do not be afraid, you enjoy the favor of God." What happens in your life is accompanied by the love of the Lord. God has a plan of love for you.
Then there is the announcement, the mystery that is about to happen. The Most High is about to descend among us; in your womb, he shall become one of us; the Eternal is about to enter into time, and the immortal one is about to become mortal. By becoming a man, he will also have to experience death. This will be the supreme test of his love, to become mortal.
Then, the name ‘Jesus.’ The evangelist Matthew will tell us its meaning, 'God saves.' This is the identity of God; he does nothing but save us. And now the presentation of this child, “He shall be great, the Son of the Most High; and he shall be an immortal king, his kingdom shall endure forever, extending from sea to sea, from the river to the ends of the earth.”
“He shall be great.” We appreciate what is great, not what is small, and there is competition even to be more important than the others, and we appreciate great people precisely because they are great. And people have introduced this competition even among their gods; they all thought their god was greater than the other gods. The Israelites were not less than the other peoples; thus, in the book of Exodus, we find Moses saying to the Israelites, ‘Great is our God, greater than all gods.' And in the last centuries before Christ, these affirmations about the greatness of God had multiplied immeasurably. In the book of Esther, it is said That God is very great. In the book of Judith, 'The Lord is great and glorious, wonderful in his power, invincible.'
In the son of Mary, the Lord our God came to show his greatness: A child who needs to be caressed; otherwise, he cries; this is the greatness of our God; the greatness of our God is the opposite of the greatness to which people aspire, to be greater than others. The greatness of our God is to become a servant, a small, humble servant of all.
And then, “Son of the Most High.” This title of Most High is found in the Old Testament. It appears 32 times. What does this Most High mean? We appreciate who is high, not who is small, and when one is small, he gets a hat to be taller than others, and this is the meaning of the hat, more than to protect us from the sun, 'to be great,' 'to be high.'
In Psalm 113, the height of God is explained as one who sits high above the heavens and the heavens of the heavens. The psalmist says, 'Who is like the Lord our God, sitting on the heights, stooping to look down upon the heavens and earth, to lift the weak from the dust and out of affliction the poor.' This is the height of our God; it is the opposite of those heights to which people aspire, and, indeed, our God will come to be seen in Jesus of Nazareth, the very Son of this Most High, who stoops down to wash men's feet. This is the height of our God. 'He shall be a king' but not the king that the Israelites expected, who would rule over all other peoples, no; it shall be a kingdom not of beasts that maim the weakest but a kingdom of lambs that give all of themselves for life.
Let us now listen to Mary's question and the answer that the angel will give her:
"Mary answered the angel: 'How will that happen if I do not live with a man?' The angel answered her: And the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: therefore, he that is consecrated, who shall be born shall bear the title of the Son of God. Behold, also thy kinswoman Elizabeth hath conceived in her old age, and she that was thought to be barren is now six months old. For nothing is impossible with God. Mary answered: I am the handmaid of the Lord: Let your word be fulfilled in me. And the angel left her and went away.”
Mary asks, "How will that happen if I do not live with a man?" St. Augustine explained it, saying that Mary had taken a vow of virginity and, therefore, did not understand how she could become a mother. Whoever makes these assumptions has not understood the literary genre of the story.
The literary genre of the passage does not assume that it is a material dialogue between an angel who had assumed human form and Mary; she would have had the dialogue in mind and related it later to the evangelist Luke. Today, no one interprets the account in this way. It would be extraordinary that to keep her virginity, Mary would have decided to marry. Moreover, let us note that she does not ask how it could happen but how it will happen, what her task will be, and how she will have to behave so that the Lord's designs will be realized through her.
Mary knows she has a vocation to which she must respond and adhere. Each one of us has a particular vocation. What is this vocation? We came into the world; no one has ever existed before as ‘I am’ and will never exist after. We are unique, and we are here with our own identity. The good God has sent us into the world because he has a plan for us to fulfill. So, what is a vocation? It is the awareness of this identity, and obeying God means adhering to and realizing this identity because we can make decisions dictated not by our identity but by our pride and passions.
To realize our life, we have to realize this identity, and Mary gives us an example of how to respond to one's vocation. The ‘yes’ said to God to be genuinely human must be thoughtful and responsible, and Luke presents Mary to us as a model of the authentic human response to the vocation that the Lord has given us, and this response must be free and conscious. The angel clarifies what Mary was asking for, and he gives it in the language that Mary and all Israelites understand; these are biblical images. Let us try to understand them.
The first one: "The Holy Spirit will come upon you." What is this Holy Spirit? The term 'Holy Spirit' has been interpreted as the male function in the generative force of Mary’s son, but this is not so. In Greek, 'πνεῦμα' - 'pneuma' is not masculine but neuter, and רוּחַ - 'ruach' in Hebrew is feminine. What is this Spirit? Recall that it appears immediately at the beginning of the Bible, the spirit that hovers over the waters. It is the creative force of God. Here, this Spirit reappears not as a generative but as a creative power. Luke tells us that in Mary's womb, a creative act of God took place.
Second image: "The power of the Most High will overshadow you." What does the image of the shadow mean? In the Old Testament, the shadow often appears as a sign of the Lord's presence. During the exodus, the Lord went before his people in a pillar of clouds. The shadow, the clouds, are the signs of the presence of God. When Moses entered the tent where he met the Lord, the shadow was immediately spread over that tent. Upon Sinai, when Moses went up to speak with the Lord, the top of the mountain was covered with shadow, a thick cloud. When the Bible speaks of the Ark of the Covenant, where the Lord was present, it is said to be covered in shadow.
What is Luke telling us with this image of the Lord covering Mary with his shadow? He is saying that she is the new, true covenant because the Lord is truly present in her. In her womb, the life of the Eternal has begun to germinate. What literary genre is this? It is a profession of faith of the evangelist Luke, who tells us the devotion of all the primitive communities of his time who profess that the son of Mary is the Son of God, begotten by the creative power of the Holy Spirit.
After giving the sign that nothing is impossible with God, he concludes with the warning that even in the womb of Elizabeth, the power of the Lord was at work because she became pregnant with the Baptist. Mary responds, "I am the handmaid of the Lord: Let your word be fulfilled in me.”
Let us examine her answer; the answer is wonderful; first, she says, 'ecomí.' This is one of the most recurring words of the Old Testament; it appears up to 178 times; 'inení - econí' - 'Here I am.' We find it in the mouth of all the most important characters of the Old Testament. When they give their answer to the call of the Lord, they answer, 'econi' - 'here I am'. 'Abram, Abram...' - 'econi' - 'Here I am'. When Moses is called: 'Econi' - 'Here I am.' Samuel, 'Econi' - 'Here I am'. Also, Isaiah and the prophets.
This 'Here I am' is not a simple yes; it is the declaration of total willingness to accept the Lord's designs and the sign of unconditional adherence to his will. Then he says, "I am the handmaid." Not the lowly servant, nothing of the sort. 'Servant' is the noblest title in the Bible reserved for the most important personages; when Moses is named in the Pentateuch, it is immediately added, 'Eved Adonai' - Servant of the Lord. A servant has placed his whole life at God's disposal.
Since this title is so honorific, it would be strange that Mary would have given it to herself. On the other hand, she is the only woman to receive this title in the Bible; the others are all men. It is a title given to Mary by the early community; the primitive community saw how that woman had responded to her vocation with total availability and said: 'This is truly a servant of the Lord.’ "May your word be fulfilled in me." It is not resignation. The Greek verb 'génoito' is an optative expressing the joyful desire for this to happen as soon as possible.
In this last part, we have received a very important message from Mary: her readiness to fulfill God's plans.
I wish you all a good Sunday and preparation for Christmas Day.
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