The Annunciation
Due to my Catholic upbringing I am well aware of what is called the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary. The idea is to meditate on 5 different events in Jesus' and Mary's life. Often we are encouraged to see how those events are relevant to us today, besides the obvious, so here goes...
The Annunciation:
Every Christmas season we here in the Gospel the story of the archangel Gabriel appearing to Mary with the message, "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you." From that moment on, Mary's life changed in ways she couldn't have imagined.
But how did this occur? None of us will ever know for sure. There are numerous paintings from some of the greatest artists of the event. Most of them picture Mary kneeling in prayer looking up at Gabriel hearing his message. I'm always puzzled by those paintings. Mary came from a life of peasants. The idea that she would have time during her day to sit/kneel and meditate seems very unlikely. It is much more likely that Gabriel appeared during her usual workday chores. Did he speak to hear with an audible voice or to her heart. That's another thing we will never know. But this is where it gets interesting. How many of us receive messages from God every day (albeit not nearly as dramatic as this one), but are too busy doing our thing to hear God's voice. Our faith teaches us that God speaks to us but I think we often miss out. Years ago I read, "Busyness is the devil's work." This is quite in contrast to our historical Puritan work ethic, but I think the saying has a point. In the midst of all our busyness, does God time get squeezed out?
Do we have unrealistic expectations or limiting expectations of what God's voice will be? After all, God can choose to speak to us in more ways than our human limitations can imagine. We need to open our hearts to hear God's voice in numerous ways, always at the ready, because God can and does speak to us through others. I was reminded of this last week when I was sharing with family/friends an event that happened with my son Andrew when he was 7 or 8. I was sleeping soundly in my bed when Andrew came to wake me up. His manner and tone made me think something horrible had happened. With adrenalin rushing through my veins to prepare for whatever disaster lay before me, I followed Andrew quickly back to his bedroom. "What is it?, I cried. Andrew solemnly and with a beatific expression on his face looked out his bedroom window and pointed. "Look at the moon, Mom, It's so big and beautiful." I followed his gaze and it truly was a beautiful moon. It looked amazingly large and seemed to hover above the treetops like a giant, luminous globe. It looked close enough to touch but was so beautiful that evening that touching it, if that was possible, would have seemed like a violation. I stood with Andrew several minutes gazing at the moon. Then, I tucked my sweet son back into his bed and returned to mine with a very contented and awestruck feeling in my heart.
Was God speaking to me that night? Was I having my own personal annunciation of God's beauty and grandeur? Was God telling Andrew and I at that moment that we were special and loved? I believe God was; I believe God speaks to all of us every day telling us how special we are. Most of the time we are too busy to hear these special messages. We miss out on the messages that come through others, our very own "angels unaware." And maybe none of us will have Gabriel visit, but maybe other angels are speaking to us and we just don't know it.
What personal annunciation am I hearing today? As I meditate on the mystery of the Annunciation, I hope I can hear my own personal messages from God. They won't be as universally amazing as what Mary heard, but they may be just as life-changing for me.
What about you? What do you hear?
The Annunciation:
Every Christmas season we here in the Gospel the story of the archangel Gabriel appearing to Mary with the message, "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with you." From that moment on, Mary's life changed in ways she couldn't have imagined.
But how did this occur? None of us will ever know for sure. There are numerous paintings from some of the greatest artists of the event. Most of them picture Mary kneeling in prayer looking up at Gabriel hearing his message. I'm always puzzled by those paintings. Mary came from a life of peasants. The idea that she would have time during her day to sit/kneel and meditate seems very unlikely. It is much more likely that Gabriel appeared during her usual workday chores. Did he speak to hear with an audible voice or to her heart. That's another thing we will never know. But this is where it gets interesting. How many of us receive messages from God every day (albeit not nearly as dramatic as this one), but are too busy doing our thing to hear God's voice. Our faith teaches us that God speaks to us but I think we often miss out. Years ago I read, "Busyness is the devil's work." This is quite in contrast to our historical Puritan work ethic, but I think the saying has a point. In the midst of all our busyness, does God time get squeezed out?
Do we have unrealistic expectations or limiting expectations of what God's voice will be? After all, God can choose to speak to us in more ways than our human limitations can imagine. We need to open our hearts to hear God's voice in numerous ways, always at the ready, because God can and does speak to us through others. I was reminded of this last week when I was sharing with family/friends an event that happened with my son Andrew when he was 7 or 8. I was sleeping soundly in my bed when Andrew came to wake me up. His manner and tone made me think something horrible had happened. With adrenalin rushing through my veins to prepare for whatever disaster lay before me, I followed Andrew quickly back to his bedroom. "What is it?, I cried. Andrew solemnly and with a beatific expression on his face looked out his bedroom window and pointed. "Look at the moon, Mom, It's so big and beautiful." I followed his gaze and it truly was a beautiful moon. It looked amazingly large and seemed to hover above the treetops like a giant, luminous globe. It looked close enough to touch but was so beautiful that evening that touching it, if that was possible, would have seemed like a violation. I stood with Andrew several minutes gazing at the moon. Then, I tucked my sweet son back into his bed and returned to mine with a very contented and awestruck feeling in my heart.
Was God speaking to me that night? Was I having my own personal annunciation of God's beauty and grandeur? Was God telling Andrew and I at that moment that we were special and loved? I believe God was; I believe God speaks to all of us every day telling us how special we are. Most of the time we are too busy to hear these special messages. We miss out on the messages that come through others, our very own "angels unaware." And maybe none of us will have Gabriel visit, but maybe other angels are speaking to us and we just don't know it.
What personal annunciation am I hearing today? As I meditate on the mystery of the Annunciation, I hope I can hear my own personal messages from God. They won't be as universally amazing as what Mary heard, but they may be just as life-changing for me.
What about you? What do you hear?
Good blog!
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