Sunday Homily - The Annunciation

Today’s Gospel reading describes the moment when the Angel Gabriel announces to the young virgin Mary that she has been chosen to be the mother of God.

Artists have painted this scene from Luke’s Gospel hundreds of times. We’ve all seen these images of what we call the Annunciation on the covers of Christmas cards. These images usually depict Mary and the Angel dressed in beautiful clothes.  Gabriel’s wings are flared and magnificent – Mary is dressed in a beautiful blue robe and looks lovely. Images like this have always felt a bit unreal, too pretty, too perfect.

My favorite image of this moment hangs in the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  It is a painting by an American artist named Henry Tanner. In Tanner’s painting, Gabriel does not appear as an angel with wings but as a beam of light that filled Mary’s bedroom with its glow.  Mary in his painting is sitting on a bed a bit disheveled like she just woke up. The bright light of the angel is right in front of her. Tanner’s painting is like a candid snap-shot of this moment. He captures Mary’s humanity her normalness. He allows the viewer to relate to her as an average person, like us in every way. The scene appears to be right after the angel has said these words and Mary looks thoughtful and reflective, even a bit scared and bewildered. She has a look on her face that says, "How can this be?" What is so engaging about Tanner’s painting is that he allows us to think for a moment about what that real-life situation was for this humble young woman.

This story is about God suddenly breaking into the life of a peasant girl and God making an incredible request of her. It’s easy to imagine that Mary’s heart was pounding as this unexpected heavenly visitor suddenly appears in her room and tells her that God wants her to be a pregnant unwed mother.

Have you ever thought of what might have gone through Mary’s mind at that moment?  We just assume she eagerly said, “may it be done to me.” But perhaps at that moment, Mary thought of all the consequences of her decision, before she responded.

• Did she think about what it was going to be like to tell her family that she was pregnant before being married? 
• Did she wonder if they would believe her when she told them that she hadn't been intimate with a man? That would be pretty hard for any parent to believe.         
• Did Mary wonder how her fiancé Joseph would react? We know from Matthew’s Gospel, that at first, Joseph didn’t believe her; that he was going to divorce her quietly.
• Did she think about the wagging tongues spreading rumors about her and Jesus in the future? Would they talk about the impropriety of Mary’s pregnancy? 
• And did it pop into her mind, even for a second, that the penalty according to the Mosaic Law for being unmarried and pregnant was death by stoning?

In truth, we don’t know what that moment was like for Mary. But in many ways thinking that she did consider the consequences of her decision gives her “YES” even more impact. Here this teenage girl listened to this incomprehensible request and bravely said “YES” even if it cost her her life. And this simple girl’s “Yes” changed the world forever. In that moment Mary is a model for us. All of us like Mary face moments when life takes a turn; we never expected when God’s plan for us seems a total surprise. In her amazing bravery, Mary inspires us to have faith in God’s plan.

It’s important for us to appreciate the courage of Mary in that moment. Denise Levertov wrote a poem about this moment called “Annunciation.” And the words of the poet are words that can inspire us to say “Yes” when we are called to handle something challenging when we are called to be brave in our faith. Her poem goes 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.

Mary consented to God’s request to a wholly unexpected and radical change in her life. She agreed because she knew God. She said “YES” because she was a good Jew and a prayerful person she knew her God was a merciful God a God who would look after her.

Mary is a great role model for each of us. Mary said yes to God and welcomed Jesus in a special way into her life and allowed God – allowed Jesus – to come into the world. And like her God asks us to welcome Him into our life.

God is asking each of us, in our own way, to accept Jesus into our lives and to bring Jesus into - our – world; to bring the saving power of Jesus to those in our world.

And God waits for our answer. Will we say – “YES” – this Year?

Finding out Santa isn't real can be tough.

Santa Claus is a wonderful myth we all grew up loving.  The Dutch who founded New York City brought with them their love of Holand’s patron Saint - St. Nicholas. The Dutch were the first to depict him with a full white beard, who wore a magic cloak and dispensed gifts to children. Children placed their shoes and hay (to feed the horse) near the fireplace. Santa Claus would replace the hay with nuts and candy in the children’s shoes. Santa, as we know him, is very much a product of American creativity.

The image and stories we grew up loving have only been around since the 19th century. Any number of people are responsible for “inventing” the Santa Claus we know today. Clement C. Moore wrote the poem – A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1822. Political cartoonist Thomas Nast drew the first depiction of Santa Claus as we envision him in Harper’s Weekly in 1866 (shown on the left). You could even credit the marketers of Coca-Cola who popularized the image we hold so dear. But it seems most of the credit for the Santa myth we grew up with goes to author Washington Irving who wrote such classics as "Rip Van Winkle" and "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Washington Irving published "Knickerbocker's History of New York" in 1823. In this parody of colonial America, Irving took much glee in satirizing the early Dutch settlers of New York and their traditions, including their patron saint, Nicholas, whom they referred to as Sancte Claus. But in doing so, he also created our wonderful Christmas tradition.

Another Christmas event many of us have experienced is the sadness of a child when they discover that Santa is just a story – a myth. Many of us remember the discomfort when our children found out it was all a bit of a lie. The reason for this post is to suggest what to do when this occurs.  Rather than tiptoe through that awkward moment, I suggest we immediately tell each child the story of the real Saint Nick.

The real story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in a village on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Nicholas was such a good boy that he desired to obey Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.

The gift giving associated with St. Nick stemmed mostly from a story when he was very young.  In his town, there was a poor man with three daughters. In those days a young woman's father had to offer prospective husbands something of value—a dowry. The larger the dowry, the better the chance that a young woman would find a good husband. Without a dowry, a woman was unlikely to marry. This poor man's daughters, without dowries, were therefore destined to be sold into slavery. Mysteriously, on three different occasions, a bag of gold appeared in their home-providing the needed dowries. The bags of gold, tossed through an open window by Nicholas, are said to have landed in stockings or shoes left before the fire to dry. This led to the custom of children hanging stockings or putting out shoes, eagerly awaiting gifts from Saint Nicholas. Sometimes the story is told with gold balls instead of bags of gold. That is why three gold balls, sometimes represented as oranges, are one of the symbols for St. Nicholas. So our wonderful tradition of gift giving at Christmas comes from remembering the kindness of St. Nicholas the generous gift-giver.