Annunciation Fr Michael Margitich 2015

the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today's feast, called the Annunciation, is one

of the most celebrated and honored feasts of

the Church. The one that is recognized as one

of the holy and glorious peace days. It generally

falls during the great Lenten season. And even

though it may even fall in Holy Week, the solemn

and penitential nature and character of the services

are somewhat tempered because this event is one

of joy, praise, and thanksgiving. Or as the scriptures

tell us, this is a special day. To rejoice because

in the words of St. Paul, sing hymns and psalms

to the Lord. And sing with praise in your heart.

And give thanks for everything to God, the Father

of our Lord. One of the significant elements

that we hear in the hymn of today, and I want

to quote it, as we celebrate this sacred and

solemn feast of the Mother of God, let us clap

our hands, O people of God, and give glory to

God. Who was born of her. What an expression.

Clap your hands oh ye people. And give glory

to God. Who was born of her. What we celebrate.

On this annunciation to the Theotokos. Is that

she was favored by God. To give birth to Christ.

The Savior of the world. In the scripture reading

from St. Luke, we heard that the Gabriel approached

Mary and said, you shall conceive a child and

call his name Jesus. Well, to the wonderment

and to the astonishment of this young maiden

of Nazareth, she asked, how can this be? I know

not a man. Fear not, said the angel, fear not.

For the Holy Spirit will descend on you and the

Holy One born. shall be called the Son of God.

Now though there was astonishment in her in hearing

this incredible divine announcement, she responded

as she always responded since her presentation

to the temple. She did so with faith. humility

and obedience in her words let it be Lord let

it be according to thy word now what is so extraordinary

so unique and almost incomprehensible is that

God's plan of salvation God's divine plan of

salvation depended upon the response of this

maiden from Nazareth. Why is this so extraordinary?

Because she, Mary, had the opportunity because

of her free will. To say no. But instead she

said. Let it be according to thy word. God never.

Imposes his will. On any of us. We all have the

opportunity. To say no to God. Because of our

freedom. And in commemorating this feast. We

confess, we acknowledge, and we embrace a divine

mystery which surpasses all human reasoning and

logic. In the words of the Tramparian, today

is the beginning of our salvation. The Son of

God becomes the Son of Virgin. This is hard for

the non -believer. And yet, it is the basis of

our faith. The Son of God becomes the Son of

the Virgin. Why is this so extraordinary? Because

the Annunciation is the turning point of human

history. As we hear on Pascha night, in the beginning

was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word

became flesh. The past, the present, and the

future of humanity was forever changed by the

affirmative response of the maiden. of Nazareth.

Let it be according to thy word. And in the reading

for today we also heard that following the divine

announcement the Virgin Mary visited her cousin

Elizabeth. And she greeted Elizabeth with these

remarkable words. Blessed are you among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And the

evangelist Luke records the incomparable, magnificent.

Of the blessing. When she sings. My soul magnifies

the Lord. And my spirit. Rejoices in God. My

Savior. The mystery. Of eternity. Is uncovered.

The silence. Of eternity. Is broken. because

of these words, let it be, let it be according

to thy words. I doubt if anyone could ever overemphasize

the significance of Mary's role in the history

of our salvation. It took some of the saints

to write books, not pages, but books on this

divine revelation. It's extremely important to

realize that Mary was not passive, nor did she

simply Played the role as an incubator. She was

mother in every sense of the word. She bore Christ.

She nursed Christ. She raised the Son of God.

Spiritually, liturgically, dogmatically. The

fountain of tenderness, Mary, made possible God's

entrance into our world. And she did so with

these remarkable, extraordinary, and humble words.

Be it. according to thy word. I doubt that there's

a greater blessing and encouragement for us to

hear than the announcement that Gabriel made

to the Blessed Virgin. It's glorious. It's wonderful.

It goes beyond our comprehension and yet divine

reality had become part of our human reality

because the Annunciation marks the beginning

of our salvation. It leads. This announcement

leads to the cross. And this announcement culminates

not in the crucifixion, but in the resurrection

of Christ. It leads to the empty tomb, the door

of new eternal life. In the risen Christ. Splendid

God.