II Samuel 7: 1–11, 16; Psalm 89: 1–4, 19–16; Romans 16:
25–27; Luke 1: 26–38
This is the homily given
at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, December 24, 2017, by Fr.
Gene Tucker.
“COULD
SHE (MARY) HAVE SAID ‘NO’?”
(Homily text: Luke 1: 26-38)
“No,
I’m not willing to do what you ask. Get someone else.”
Could
the Blessed Virgin Mary have said these (or similar) words to the angel Gabriel
when the angel came to visit Mary? Christians are not of the same mind as to
the answer: Some say that she could, most definitely, have rejected God’s plan.
Others say she couldn’t. I’ll let you wrestle with this question.
But,
fortunately for you and I, Mary did say “yes”.
Oftentimes,
I think the accounts in Holy Scripture tend to “flatten out” whenever we read
them. Sometimes, biblical accounts lose their three dimensional quality. That is to say, we can easily lose sight of
the fact that the persons mentioned in the Bible were real people, people with
concerns, fears, expectations and hopes just like we have. The essential
building blocks of humanity haven’t changed over all the years from Mary’s time
till our own. The humanity we share with Mary and with all those who are named
in the Bible is one and the same.
With
this in mind, let’s turn again to this very familiar encounter, one that Luke
alone among the Gospel writers imparts to us. For if we regard Mary not as the
very highly exalted figure that she deserves to be, but as a young woman,
perhaps so young that she was in her early teens (remember that, in the society
of that day, it was not uncommon for people to be married in their early
teens….after all, the life expectancy was also quite short by contemporary
standards), then perhaps we can put ourselves into Mary’s shoes for a brief
moment. If we are able to do this, we can catch a glimpse of the astonishing
nature of her encounter with the angel Gabriel. We can also catch a glimpse of
the personal risk to Mary’s life that was involved in her saying “Yes” to God.
To
see the extraordinary nature of Mary’s encounter with Gabriel, let’s transfer the
essentials of this encounter to the post office building downtown, and the time
frame is December, 2017.
Imagine
that we have gone to the post office to buy stamps. After standing in line to
get our stamps, a man who’s been standing in the lobby calls out to us as we
are about to leave and asks if he might chat with us for a moment. In response,
we make our way to the far side of the lobby, where the man identifies himself
as God’s messenger, Gabriel. Speaking in quiet tones, he lays out a plan which,
he says, will affect the entire world, adding that we are essential to God’s
plan. Our cooperation is vital to the plan’s success.
As we
ponder what this mysterious figure has to say, a number of responses arise: For
one thing, we realize that, if we say “yes” to the plan, the trajectory of our
own life will change for ever….whatever plans we might have had for our future
will have to be re-assessed and refigured. For another, we see that acceptance
of the plan will involve considerable risk to our own welfare….even telling
others about what we’ve been told will risk the possibility of provoking
reactions of disbelief or even scorn. Some might even think we’ve become
delusional. As others in the community find out about our story, they may
ostracize us. We might risk losing friends, and our own family members might
turn away from us.
This
little exercise might enable us to see the realities that attended Gabriel’s
message. Though we do not know exactly when and where Gabriel had his
conversation with Mary (and Luke doesn’t tell us), it’s possible that the
encounter may have taken place in a very common, ordinary setting, perhaps
something like when Mary came to the town well to draw water. Nor do we know
what in what form Gabriel appeared to Mary. Could he have appeared as an
ordinary human being? Quite possibly, he did.
But
the extraordinary nature of what Mary had to relate to her family and friends
is something we can relate to, for when Mary told others what had happened,
it’s possible that they may have thought she was either seeing things, or that
she was even a little out-of-her-mind. What Mary had to say was extraordinary
in every way. She related a story that involved God’s personal intervention in
human history. God’s great, big and wonderful plan was going to unfold through
her.
Beyond
that, Mary’s “yes” involved a good deal of personal risk to her own safety, for
to be pregnant in that culture and in that time without the benefit of marriage
was to risk being ostracized, or worse. (Matthew explores this aspect of Jesus’
conception as he relates Joseph’s reaction to Mary’s pregnancy.)
Our
regard for Mary’s “yes” to God’s invitation is magnified when we consider that
her acceptance of God’s plan involved an entirely new course for her own life,
a course which involved great personal risk.
Mary’s
“yes” opens the way for God’s plan to save the world to take place. With Mary’s
cooperation, God can come and take on our humanity completely and fully. Mary’s
“yes” establishes her in the catalog of the saints as the perfect model of
submission to God’s will. Mary’s obedience is the model for us to emulate and
follow.
Do I
believe that Mary could have said “no”? Yes, I believe she had that freedom.
But because she said “yes”, she is forever to be called “blessed”.
AMEN.
