The gospel of this 4th Sunday of Advent (Year B) presents us with the scene of the Annunciation to Mary (Lk.1:26-38).
Of course, we know it well, we could tell the ‘story’ easily and in all its details.
We are so used to the text that nothing should surprise us anymore, and yet…
As I reflect on it, there is one aspect that strikes me: Mary said: ‘Yes’.
Or rather, no, she did not say: ‘Yes’, but she said: “Let this be done unto me…”
We cannot imagine that she could not, that she would not, have said this!
How could one refuse something to God?…
From this scene of this annunciation in the gospel, I move on to many other scenes of ‘annunciation’.
What could be described as ‘personal annunciations’.
And I recall the answer given…
Those annunciations were not brought by an angelic messenger, of course.
They were not conveyed either in a celestial language or a prophetic statement.
Yet, they were real messages from God.
- A remark by a friend… the remark was so appropriate to the situation of the moment…
- A question by a neighbour… so much in line with one’s reflection at the time…
- A suggestion by a colleague… surprising at the moment, but attuned to the circumstances…
- An interpellation by a relative… it caught us unawares but fitted our experience of the day…
- A request from a stranger… inopportune but justified…
Yes, they were true ‘annunciations’ and the response then was…?
We may have first spoken, vocally or in a soft whisper, the words of Mary: “How can this happen?…”
There was the perception that this was a moment of commitment.
It was a unique occasion of acceptance to enter God’s plan.
Then, was the following response similar to Mary’s?…
“Let this be done unto me…”
This is really the only fitting response to God.
Perhaps not the easiest, or the most spontaneous.
But, can we refuse something , anything, to… God?