DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(2 Sam 7,1-5.8-12.14.16; Rom 16,25-27; Luke 1, 26-38: 4th Sunday of Advent Year B, 20th December 2020)
On this immediate Sunday preceding Christmas, the liturgy presents the Gospel of the Annunciation to us. The liturgy is not concerned with chronology - it is clear that the Annunciation did not take place a few days before Christmas - but intends to illuminate the mystery of Christmas with this Gospel, which is, effectively, indispensable for welcoming this mystery very well.
In the angel's announcement it is said that the Lord God will give the son of Mary the throne of his father David. To prepare this prediction, the first reading presents the oracle of the prophet Nathan to King David. The second reading speaks to us of the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is made so that [all peoples] may obey the faith. We must welcome the Incarnation of the Son of God who became the son of David, Messiah and Saviour with faith.
After the Lord granted him victory over all his enemies, King David built a beautiful palace, a cedar house, a luxurious building in those times. But then he realises that he has not thought of building a house for the Ark of God, for the Presence of God. So, he says to the prophet Nathan: You see, I live in a cedar house, while the ark of God is under a tent. Here we can see how David did not even dare to express his plan clearly to the prophet. It is a project that concerns God’s holiness and, according to the Old Testament mentality, it is very dangerous to take initiatives about the sanctity of God. But the prophet Nathan understands what David's plan is well: to build a grandiose temple, worthy of God, however, not minding how long it may take him. Nathan then approves of the king's intention and says: Go, do what you plan to do, because the Lord is with you. But the Lord disagrees with this project. So on that same night Nathan hears a word from God asking him to change the answer given to David. God's response to David's plan ultimately was: Not you, David, will build a house for me, but I, God, will build a house for you. This house will be a royal dynasty, which will have power over the people of God for centuries. The Lord says to David: When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will ensure after you the offspring that came from your womb. That is, God promises David to give him a son, who will be his successor, a son for whom God will be a father - I will be his father and he will be my son - and whose throne will be made stable forever. This oracle of Nathan is at the origin of the messianic hope. The descendants of David who were his successors, for the most part, were disappointing: they were by no means sovereign ideals, but men full of defects, who did not follow the ways of the Lord and therefore, caused misfortunes for the people. However, these disappointments had the effect of arousing the hope of a perfect fulfilment of God's plan and promise, the hope of a Messiah king, who was to be truly the ideal ruler and whose reign would last forever.
In the Annunciation the angel tells Mary that this oracle and this messianic hope are about to be realised: the son of Mary will be David's successor. The angel announces: The Lord God will give him the throne of David his father and will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. Consequently, there is the perfect and definitive fulfilment of God's promise; the oracle of Nathan is fulfilled in a way that could not have been foreseen. It always happens like this: when God makes a promise, the fulfilment is always more beautiful and perfect than how that promise was understood by men. The son of Mary is not only David's successor, but he is truly the Son of God. After hearing this announcement from the angel, Mary asks: How does this happen? I don't know man. In the angel's response it is revealed to her that her son will truly be the Son of God, he will not have a human father, but will be conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel says: The Holy Spirit will descend on you, the power of the Most High will overshadow you. He who is born will therefore be holy and called the Son of God. Here is the full revelation. God's plan manifests itself greater and much more extraordinary than one might think. We can admire this truly extraordinary, stupendous divine generosity. The Holy God chooses a simple girl to become the mother of his Son, the human mother of the eternal Son of the heavenly Father. This is a wonderful thing, which changes our whole human existence and the whole history of the world. The Son of God becomes a child - and then he will become an adult - assuming the human condition, to establish the kingdom of God and introduce men to it. In this passage of the Gospel we can see a contrast - which is also manifested in the different length of the discourses between the promises that the angel makes to Mary and the response of the latter. The angel's predictions take up a lot of space; he says to Mary: Do not be afraid, Mary, because you have found grace with God. Behold you will conceive a son, you will give birth to him and you will call him Jesus, He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High; the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom will have no end. It is a long prediction, which opens exceptional, and eternal prospects. The child born of Mary will be called Son of the Most High: it is not possible to conceive a higher dignity than this. And after Mary's question, the angel's predictions become even more precise and extraordinary: they are wonderful, very high and widely explained predictions. Instead, Mary's response is a short sentence, which does not speak at all of glory, but only of submission and service: Here I am, I am the handmaid of the Lord, let what you said happen to me. Mary does not exalt herself, but humbles herself (I am the servant of the Lord), and expresses her adherence, her Yes to God's plan (and may what you have said come to me). This contrast is very significant. It makes us understand that Mary is truly humble and does not try to stand out. She recognises that she is small before God, and is happy to be so. On the other hand, she is aware that the response to God's plan depends on her, that she can be an obstacle or help to that project. Mary presents herself here with an attitude that corresponds, perfectly, with that of the Son of God when he comes into the world: he wants to become the Servant of the Lord, to put himself at the service of all humanity for the success of God's plan. Mary says: Here I am, I am the servant of the Lord; and the Son of God, entering the world, says: Behold, I come [...] to do your will, O God" (Heb. 10,7.9). Mary's attitude corresponds perfectly to this declaration of the Son of God becoming her son. In this way she reveals herself as a perfect collaborator of God's plan, and in the Magnificat she will be able to proclaim that God has exalted the humble (Luke 1,52), because with this very humble and generous responses he obtained a very high glory. Mary prepares to live the whole mystery of Christ, even in its painful aspects. But the latter are the only way that truly leads to the glorious mysteries. Mary follows this path when she says: I am the servant of the Lord.
We must admire Mary and feel an intimate joy for her so beautiful and costly response to God's plan. We can and must therefore, ask for the grace to also welcome - each according to his or her vocation - God's plan in our lives, with perfect humility, great generosity and continuous adherence to it. +John I. Okoye
(graphics by Chukwubike OC)
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