Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord
Loosening Our Grip

Readings: Isaiah 7:10-14; 8:10; Psalm 40:7-8a, 8b-9, 10, 11; Hebrews 10:4-10; Luke 1:26-38
Picture: CC Solar ikon

Probably no one likes to face a crisis. Nobody likes the feeling of losing one’s grip, of watching life careen wildly out of one’s control. Yet, frightening and unwelcome though they may be, crises are an inevitable part of life. Indeed, some see human growth as the result of properly negotiating a series of crises. But is there really a proper way? Is there even a Christian response to crises?

This seems to be the question that our readings raise for us on this solemn feast of the Annunciation of the Lord. For a serious crisis forms the background in both the first reading and the gospel respectively. In the former, King Ahaz of Judah finds himself in a quandary as foreign invaders threaten his kingdom. And if the enemy is at the gates in the first reading, in the gospel, it has already occupied the city. Judah is already under Roman rule. What to do? How might the people be saved?

Very often, the natural human response to a crisis is to try, as quickly and as efficiently as possible, to re-establish control. When sick, for example, we consult the best doctors, take the most powerful medicines. (And this is as it should be.) Or when the problem is even more serious, we may seek refuge in various religious devotions and spiritual disciplines. Whatever our chosen instrument, whether it be science or religion, when life threatens to slip out of our grasp, the natural human tendency seems to be to flex our muscles even harder, to tighten our grip. But then, if we’re lucky enough, a crisis sometimes comes along that proves to be beyond our paltry efforts. Something happens that puts into question our natural human tendency to choose the way of control. What then? Is there an alternative?

Yes, there is. And it is precisely this properly Christian alternative that we are celebrating today. Instead of seeking to re-establish control, we are invited to surrender to God. Or, in the words of the second reading, instead of continuing to seek to manipulate God by offering sacrifices according to the law, we are invited to submit to God’s will by participating in the one sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ. In contrast to the way of control, we are invited, as Mary was, to allow Jesus to be born in us, to walk the way of conception. What does this look like?

It begins, not by tightening our grip, but by widening our senses. Isn’t this what the Lord is asking king Ahaz to do in the first reading? Ask for a sign… Watch and listen carefully to what is going on around you. Ask for the grace to identify the ways in which God is already present and acting, even and especially in the midst of crisis. Isn’t this also what is happening in the conversation between Mary and the angel? Mary is asked to see things from God's perspective, to submit to God’s plan. This is, of course, not an easy thing to do, since it’s an invitation precisely to loosen one's grip. Who can predict what will happen, what will be born in us, as a result? Is it any wonder then that Ahaz emphatically refuses to ask for a sign and Mary is greatly troubled? Yet Mary is also blessed in that she is willing to first surrender her own anxiety to the Lord. She is willing to first loosen her grip on her own fear, and to allow God to do for her what she is not able to do for herself. I am the handmaid of the Lord… And Jesus is thus conceived in the one who is full of grace.

In our own particular crises how are we being invited to relinquish control and to walk the way of conception today?