Yes. Maybe…
Pour your grace into our hearts, O Lord, that we who have known the incarnation of your Son Jesus Christ, announced by an angel to the Virgin Mary, may by his cross and passion be brought to the glory of his resurrection; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
- Collect for the Feast of the Annunciation, Book of Common Prayer, p. 240
Today, the church celebrates the Feast of the Annunciation. Yes, if you have done the math (12/25 less nine months) then you have realized that the feast is a bit behind schedule this year. Instead of being celebrated on its appointed date of March 25, the feast was transferred to the second Monday in Easter given that it landed in the middle of Holy Week this year. In the life of The Episcopal Church, The Annunciation is identified as a “Holy Day” in our calendar, and outside of a few exceptions (like Holy Week and Easter Week), they take precedence over all other feasts within the calendar.
The Annunciation is, of course, the story of Mary being visited by Gabriel, which most of us know from the Gospel according to Luke. In the story, Gabriel begins with a greeting that all of us, like Mary, might find rather bizarre, and then Gabriel follows quickly with the words, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.” As the story unfolds, Mary asks questions, wonders how these things that Gabriel is telling her will come to pass, and then gives to Gabriel a very definite ‘yes’ to the news Gabriel is sharing with her. Perhaps, she did not fully understand what it was that she was saying yes to as most of us also do not fully understand what we are saying yes to when we respond to God’s call on our hearts. I find that it is not all that important to understand fully when we say yes to God. It is enough for us to say yes to what we do understand and then to trust that God is going to meet us there in that place, walk alongside us as we continue with our yes, and nurture us into the fullest version of our yes that we are able to muster in a given time and place. It is enough for our yes to be like Mary’s yes: a commitment to walking with God in a particular way.
Yesterday, we heard in the Gospel according to John the story of Jesus appearing to the disciples and to the questions and challenges that Thomas raises when they tell him of their experience of the Risen Christ. In one sense, Thomas needs his own encounter with the Risen Christ until he is able to enter into the belief that his fellow disciples now have. In that way, he is not all that unlike us in our time. Most of us need a moment in which we encounter the Risen Christ in our lives to have our own moment of conversion. We come to Christ in the encounter we have, and in that moment, we are able to begin muttering some form of yes to the call of the Gospel and to living a life centered in Christ. Our doubting faith might also be called a partial faith, a faith that is still germinating, blooming, and coming into itself. The rest of our lives might be spent in coming into a “fullness of faith” as we seek to live out a life that is, in some small way, reflective of the love of God made known in Christ. It may take us the rest of our lives to understand the yes we began to mutter in our own encounter with Christ, and perhaps, our own working out of our salvation in this way puts us in good company with Mary, Thomas, and the communion of saints who have gone before us.
For reflection:
When have you uttered a yes in the same vein as Mary - not knowing fully what it would involve but also being firm in your yes? Take a moment to recall that story with as much detail as possible. How does this moment inform how you are able to share the Good News with others as authentically as possible?
Recall a time that you needed convincing in your faith and joined Thomas in his questioning and challenging of his colleagues. How did it feel to be in that place? How does that story also inform how you are able to share the Good News with others?
What ‘yes’ is God inviting you into today? Spend some time in prayer with God to discern this yes and ask God to be a sojourner on this part of your spiritual journey.
