It has been six months since God last sent Gabriel. Back then, Gabriel spoke to Zachary in the Holy of Holies, bringing news of a son to those who were well past their sell by date. Gods’ Word brings new and strange possibilities. Now Gabriel is back, in a town so small that St. Luke has to name the region to give the reader some ideas of where they are. Gabriel has been sent by God to visit the spiritual centre of a young woman. To ask her to build a house for God – a house that cannot be built by human hands. Gabriel knows something about Mary that she does not know about herself. She is ‘full of grace’. Her spiritual centre is an abundant, overflowing spirit. And even though she is troubled by what is unfolding, she does not dismiss it or turn away. She ponders the Word she is hearing and becomes fertile ground for the vocation she is being asked to fulfil. Gabriel pulls her through fear into the love she will need to keep saying yes to God.
Here we must pause to consider one of the most important facets of this story. As Mary feels her way towards an answer, she cannot get past the question of her virginity. Gabriel, proclaims that this child will come to be through the work of the Spirit and the power of the ‘Most High’. Marys’ identity and her mission cannot be imprisoned by physical and social laws. She will move into Gods shadow, where Spirit becomes flesh. The ‘virgin point’, the ‘al-Hallaj’, is the place where God alone has access. This is the place in every human heart where the human and divine meet. Mary is brought to see the sacredness hidden in the depths of every human soul which remains unformed until touched by God.
We might say that here, Mary’s perplexity mirrors our own! We are not used to seeing ourselves in this way. But when the penny finally drops, and we see how we have our origins in God, everything changes. Now we can no longer think of ourselves in limited terms. Now, we are sons and daughters of God, who work tirelessly to uphold the sacred dignity of all life. As we move from darkness to light, our own small plans and self-centred ambitions have to give way to make room for the bigger vision. For many, this is the moment when they walk away, but for Mary, her illumined heart takes her to the edge of the ledge and she leaps into decision. ‘Here I am – let what you have said be done’.
Back in 1989, Denise Levertov wrote a beautiful piece called ‘Annunciation’. It ends like this:
She did not cry, ‘I cannot, I am unworthy.’
nor, ‘I have not the strength’.
She did not submit with gritted teeth,
raging, coerced.
Bravest of all humans
consent illumined her.
Consent, courage unparalleled
opened her utterly.
This is amazing because earlier, Levertov asked,
“Aren’t there annunciations of one sort or another in most lives?
Some unwillingly undertake great destinies, enact them in sullen pride, uncomprehending.
More often, those moments,
when roads of light and storm open from darkness in a man or woman,
are turned away from, in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.
God does not smite them.
But the gate closes, the pathway vanishes.
(A Door in the Hive. 1989)
Yet, I am not sure I agree with her conclusion. I think God keeps sending Angels until we can see and take the next step.
