We are celebrating the beautiful feast of the Annunciation of our Lord’s birth to the Blessed Virgin Mary which recalls how she was being asked to Mother the One and only Begotten Son of God the Father who sends Him forth, humble like a Lamb, God from God, Light from Light, to fulfil the plan of salvation. A week or so ago we heard him say from the cross, through his bruised, battered, and crucified body: Father, “it is accomplished” John 19:30. And then bowing his head: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” Luke 23:46. The Word that came down like lifegiving rain to give life to the earth which would not return to the Father without first having fulfilled what it was sent out to accomplish (Isaiah 55:11). Thank-you Jesus!
The lowly virgin, handmaiden of the Lord awaited with eager expectation the days of the Messiah. All one has to do is read the Protoevangelium of James to see how she knew she had already been specially chosen but until the Annunciation she had to have wondered… for what exactly? Out of obedience she had agreed to be accompanied by the just and holy Saint Joseph whom she knew would be a protector of her dignity and purity which she had consecrated to the Lord with all her heart and who according to the same extra-biblical documentation indicated above, we know was handpicked by the priests of the temple after having been shown a sign that he was the one to accompany the future Mother of God. St Joseph, Terror of Demons, be by our side as well, always.
These wonders were all in the eternal heart and mind of God, so he could indicate them many years prior to their gradual unfolding among us. One such instance of this is how he speaks through Ahaz as we heard in the first reading, several hundred years before this great Annunciation of the birth of Jesus to Mary. In the first reading we hear;
“The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, ‘Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above.’ ‘No,’ Ahaz answered ‘I will not put the Lord to the test’” Isaiah 7:10.
Given that we hear from the Prophet Isaiah so often in our liturgies especially during our Advent and Lenten seasons, and this particular interaction between him and King Ahaz, it would be well to give a bit of a background to both these important biblical figures as concisely as we can, given our limited time.
We will best understand the Book of the prophet Isaiah through its characters. The key players emerge in relation to the Lord himself: Israel, Isaiah, King Ahaz, King Hezekiah, Assyria, Sennacherib and Babylon.
The entire book functions as a kind of trial. Through Isaiah, the Lord prosecutes the people Israel for its infidelity to the covenant he had made with them through Moses. In chapter one, the prophet calls upon witnesses and begins leveling one accusation after another against Israel. He will be interacting with these kings of Judah: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. The spotlight, however, will be on Ahaz. His political decisions taken contrary to the prophet’s advice from above, is what leads to his ultimate infidelity and rejection of God who has promised to be with him. Ahaz prefers the aid of foreign alliances. Not smart.
This is where other characters begin cueing up to enter the court proceedings.Assyria, in the 8th century BC was the dominant political power in the Near East, so much so that Syria and Ephraim (Ephraim being the name for the ten northern tribes of Israel) decide to team up against it, by taking over Judah and thereby strengthening their ranks. Ahaz is the King of Judah at this time and is afraid, but Isaiah prophesies that he should remain calm and trust in the LORD (7:7). Instead, Ahaz sends tribute to Assyria calling himself the "servant" and "son" of the king of Assyria (2 Kings 16:7).
Ironically, in 732 BC Assyria does save Judah from Ephraim and Syria by attacking their capitals, Damascus and Samaria (2 Kings 16:9, 17:6). Yet Ahaz's failure to trust in the LORD draws a sharp rebuke from the prophet and Isaiah prophesies Judah's demise at the hands of the Assyrians.
Two simple take aways from all this before we link it to the gospel of this beautiful feast. First, the Lord made many prophecies through Isaiah, all of which he fulfilled. He promises to chastise, yet also to save and on all counts, he delivers. Therefore, we would be wise to build our lives on his words. Jesus would say we’d be likened to a man who built his house on rock which strongest winds would not be able to destroy, as Assyria eventually destroyed all of Israel, sparing only Jerusalem. Second, all of the events in Isaiah are a foreshadowing of what God desires to do with the entirety of humanity, namely, to save it from the greatest enemy of all, eternal death, with the eternal father of lies. Many times in the book of Isaiah, the prophet speaks of a jubilant day when all nations will come to worship the LORD at Jerusalem, on Mt. Zion (cf. 25, 66). Of course in retrospect, through what this same God reveals in the New Covenant, this goal is achieved only by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the true son of David and root of Jesse (11:1). This is what is being heralded today on this great feast: the time has come!
Isaiah's prophecies are so important for the NT that some of the church fathers referred to him as the first evangelist. The key passages regarding Jesus are about his being born of a virgin as given in today’s first reading (7:14), the coming of Immanuel (God among us, 9:1-7), the sprouting of the root of Jesse and that he would be linked to his Davidic roots (11), the suffering servant (53-55) and the mission of the Messiah (61). Naturally, they were all passages which went way above the heads of Jesus’ contemporaries, but also remain a curious stumbling block for traditional orthodox Jews today. A very well-known media personality, Ben Shapiro for example, in his interview with Jewish atheist Michael Shermer, gave a summary of why he does not believe in Jesus as the Messiah. He says:
“Judaism never posited that there would be God [coming] to earth in physical form and then acting out in the world in that way. Judaism posits that God is beyond space and time. Occasionally he intervenes in history, but he doesn’t take physical form – it’s one of the key beliefs of Judaism, actually, an incorporeal God. The idea is actually foreign to Judaism of a merged God-man who is God in physical form who then dies and is resurrected and all this. It’s just a different idea than exists in Judaism.”- Ben Shapiro, Sunday Special, June 17th, 2018.
With this sentiment, Ben captures the extraordinary shock factor of God becoming a human being and how it was in perfect fulfillment of everything he himself had prophesied through Isaiah. It still remains a mystery as to how such a mindset could read through the pages of the New Testament, and still find it difficult to believe that this actually happened, irrespective of whether or not Judaism thought it ever would. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time God was shocking his people with his incredible prodigies and wonders, although admittedly, he himself becoming human is the best surprise of all. And that’s just it, it’s a gift. A gift wrapped in humility, and unless one humbles themselves, like the virgin who was asked to give birth to his human nature, the preciousness of that gift will always be elusive.
In today’s feast, let us remember that the Lord still has a lot more surprises in store for us. That virgin from two-thousand years ago, he has made to reign as Queen of Heaven, and the angels then hidden to her, now serve and honour her, by command of God, night and day. Oh, how much more there is waiting for those who love God. May the Annunciation of his birth among us, be a reminder that God so loved the world, he didn’t wait for us to go to him, but he desired with all his heart to come to us. May he bless you always, through the intercession of the lowly handmaiden of Nazareth, in the name of the Father… and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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Father Pierre, This is a wonderful site and is helping me learn. Thank you for doing this.
Hi Annette! Thanks for visiting the website and I'm so glad you're getting something out of it. It was my honour to have left it to Jesus to use it in whatever way he pleases. Stay well and regards to your family. Blessings.
“He didn’t wait for us to go to Him, but He desired with all his heart to come to us”… this is special and He continues to surprise us by allowing His mother to occasionally visit us on earth to help us in this process of walking closer to His heart (Lourdes, Fatima…). He is full of surprises 💗💙
"Eyes have not seen... what God has prepared for those who love him." Thanks Simona for the comment.
Thank you Fr. Pierre, enlightening as always.
Is it ok if I share your homilies/reflections from time to time?
God bless
Hey Teresa, thanks for your kind words, praise God. Absolutely, the more we share the better. Get the word out there that God loves us with an eternal love. :) Blessings +