TWO ANNUNCIATIONS

(Reflections for the Fourth Sunday of Advent)

"When Joseph awoke,

he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him

and took his wife into his home". (Matthew 1:24)

What is annunciation to you? To any Christian mind, the word rightly evokes the gospel image of the dialogue between angel Gabriel and Mary narrated in Luke 1:26-38. However, don’t we often overlook the fact that Joseph had his own annunciation experience too? The Gospel of this Fourth Sunday of Advent invites us to reflect on the relevance of three elements that are common to the annunciation experiences of Mary and Joseph:

1. God’s radical interventions:

In each of their respective annunciation episodes, Mary and Joseph are invited to overcome their fears:

The angel tells Mary, “Do not be afraid” (Luke 1:30)

The angel tells Joseph, "Son of David, fear not” (Matthew 1:20).

The Good News of God’s incarnation comes as a shock to the recently engaged couple. While Mary is troubled by the message of the angel and ponders over its meaning, Joseph is disturbed by the shocking news that his future wife is already pregnant. The Good News of God’s imminent coming unsettles the daily lives of Mary and Joseph and disrupts their dreams and plans for their future family life.

What does this mean to us? God continues to announce His breaking into our lives, moments that radically transform our well-defined routines, plans, dreams, and priorities. He brings about something new by challenging our set patterns, our prejudices, and our predefined plans. Mary and Joseph are witnesses to the spiritual truth that God’s interventions alter our lives in a drastic manner. The same words ‘Fear not’ pronounced by the angel Gabriel to the couple continue to echo in our discipleship.

The phrase ‘Do not be afraid’ appears at least 365 times in the bible: once for every day of the year (Cf. Facing the future without fear by Lloyd Ogilvie). God reminds us, on a daily basis, that we need to fearlessly and permanently respond to the challenges that His daily coming brings to us.

2. Walking with the Holy Spirit:

The second common element to the annunciations to Joseph and Mary is the role of the Holy Spirit in their vocation to become the Holy Family.

The angel informs Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you” (Luke 1:35)

The angel reveals to Joseph: “For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her”.

God’s consolation does not merely stop with the words ‘fear not’. His care for us takes the concrete form of the Holy Spirit, our parakletos (companion), who stands by us and prays with us (Romans 8:26-27), enlightens us (John 14:26), gifts us with His peace (John 14:27), love (John 15:9–10), and joy (John 15:11), strengthens us when we are tempted (Romans 8:2) and regenerates us (John 3:5-8; Titus 3:5). As witnessed by the lives of Mary and Joseph, God enters our lives and transforms them through the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit.

A question: how is it then that the Holy Spirit is often referred to as the “forgotten” member of the Godhead? For us to truly experience the accompaniment of the Holy Spirit, we need a fundamental disposition that is best exemplified in Joseph’s annunciation: the attitude of silence. Joseph spoke not in words but in his actions and that is why the bible does not record a single word spoken by him. The gift of silence helps us become attentive to the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard insists, “If I were a doctor and I were asked for my advice, I should reply: ‘Create silence! Bring people to silence!’ The Word of God cannot be heard in the noisy world of today”.

3. Participating in God’s salvific history:

Thirdly, the two episodes of annunciation invites Mary and Joseph to a common mission.

The angel tells Mary, “And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus” (Luke 1:31).

The angel tells Joseph, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus” (Matthew 1:21).

The common vocation to parenthood extended to Mary and Joseph becomes God’s entry point into our history. God’s universal mission of salvation is invested in the pronounced ‘yes’ (fiat) of Mary and equally in the silent and unpronounced ‘yes’ of Joseph. By agreeing to welcome their unexpected child into the world, Joseph and Mary prepare the way for the Messiah awaited by the whole humanity for centuries! What great change can the simplest of our contributions make? How significant can our ‘yes’ be in the eyes of God! Imagine, if we said ‘yes’ to God each day of our lives, how much can God make use of our vocation for His salvific plan?

In our vocation to partake in God’s salvific mission, what is expected of us is not merely our "nihil obstat". God does not merely want our ‘no-objection’ certificate. He wants us to be true protagonists in today’s unfolding of salvation history. Annunciations continue to happen in our lives too and they aim at integrating our individual histories into the unfolding salvific plan of God!

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Questions for your mediation this fourth Sunday of advent:

1. Am I ready to let God break into my life and radically alter my predefined plans and goals?

2. Can I emulate Joseph’s proactive silence to walk the path of discipleship with the Holy Spirit?

3. Can I become a pro-active protagonist in God’s salvific plan in my own personal history and my participation in the Church’s mission?