The Annunciation: God Made Flesh
Today, March 25, is the feast of the Annunciation. This solemnity commemorates the appearance of the Archangel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary to ask her to be the Mother of God made man, the Savior Jesus Christ.
This feast affirms the scripturally based and scientifically verified truth that an unborn baby is fully human, with a unique soul, from the very moment of conception. The Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, was incarnated as a human baby through the agency of the Holy Spirit when Mary agreed to the angel’s proposal. Besides being the feast of the Annunciation, March 25 is also traditionally believed to have been the first Good Friday, or the day on which Jesus was crucified and died. Therefore the bookends of Christ’s work and earthly life, as it were, occurred on the same day. Jesus was conceived that He might one day die, and He died that all men might live.
Other key events in the history of mankind’s sinful fall and salvation which traditionally were believed to have happened on March 25 include the creation and then the Original Sin of Adam and Eve, the first humans; the attempted sacrifice of Isaac by his father Abraham (God stopped the sacrifice, which He had originally requested to provide a foreshadowing of His own Son Christ’s death); Lucifer’s fall; and the crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites. Jesus is the new Adam and Mary the new Eve, reversing the disobedience of the originals.
Since March 25 occurs during Holy Week this year, many Catholic parishes will not officially commemorate the feast until after Easter. But whether your parish celebrates the Annunciation today or not, take the time to read the Gospel account below and reflect on Mary’s obedience and the God-man’s humility and sacrifice, ensuring the gates of Heaven would again be opened to us:
‘And in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God into a city of Galilee, called Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel being come in, said unto her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. Who having heard, was troubled at his saying, and thought with herself what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said to her: Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found grace with God.
Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the most High; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end. And Mary said to the angel: How shall this be done, because I know not man? And the angel answering, said to her: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
And behold thy cousin Elizabeth, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God. And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her [Luke 1:26-38.]’
Have a blessed feast.