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Announcement of the birth of Jesus
Luke 1:26-38
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.
Dear siblings,
Today I propose to meditate on this powerful Advent text. In which the angel Gabriel announces to Mary that she will be the mother of the Messiah, the Son of God. A message that came in difficult times for the Jewish people, under an oppressive empire, where violence and injustice reigned. Today, in our world, it is not very different, we also live in dark times, where discrimination, violation of rights, wars, and abuse of power continue to destroy innocent lives.
But in the midst of all this, the angel's message resonates: "Divinity is with you." Divinity continues to raise up its prophets, so that they do not tire of announcing that good will prevail. That the light will make way over the darkness. That hope is our most powerful weapon against all these evils.
Mary's decision to be part of God's project occurs in a very curious way. Mary asks him many questions before, because she was afraid of assuming a pregnancy in her life. This is a clear example that pregnancy is a personal decision. Mary decided to get pregnant. She didn't have to do it, since there was a previous conversation between the Angel and her so that she could finally make her decision. The freedom of his decision is well highlighted in the text. Mary was not violated by the Angel, but there was consent. This is a free will text. María sought information and then was given the freedom, the freedom, to be part of the project or not. In my prayer today are all the bodies with the capacity to gestate, that have been violated, violated or forced, those that were not informed and were not respected.
In matters of transforming ourselves to be a transforming part of this world, we also have to responsibly inform ourselves of the events that are occurring in our societies and then with responsibility, freedom and self-determination, we say “yes” we are part of the divine project, of engender the hope of Divinity in our womb. To participate in the construction of a better world, a world where peace, human dignity and the love of Divinity can reign.
In this time of Advent, may each of us carry in our hearts, in our wombs and in our wombs, the commitment to be bearers of hope, bearers of the infinite and unconditional love of Divinity, bearers of compassion and respect. Good will triumph over evil if we commit to taking the spiritual leap that the world needs and if we do it in community without letting go of anyone's hand. May the Holy Ruah continue to guide us today and always.
Amen, Aché, namaste, Gasho, Shalom, and Salam.
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