Best Proposal Story Ever | December 8, 2015

December 8, 2015

One of my first experiences of conversion happened right here at St. Pius X school when I was in the 2^nd grade. The 2^nd grade put on the school/parish Christmas Pageant every year and of course when the time came for Sr. Jacinta to assign the roles to people, I was 100% convinced that I would be Mary. I mean I loved Mary, I had blonde hair and blues eyes, which obviously looked like your average Middle Eastern woman, and let’s face it, I wanted to be the star, right? Some things haven’t changed in all these years. Needless-to-say, I did NOT get cast as Mary and I was bummed. I did, however, get cast as the Angel Gabriel and I remember thinking in my 2^nd grade little head, well he’s not important at all! I know for a fact that I did not even pay close attention during rehearsals because I was still so focused on the disappointment of not being Mary. Once we got our costumes, I felt a little bit better because I got to wear a sparkly halo and wings….bam, best costume, right here! Again, some things have not changed in all these years.

During the actual performance I did indeed pay attention and along with that attentive spirit, my 2^nd grade little self had a real life epiphany. The words read,

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. HEY, WAIT A MINUTE…THE ANGEL GABRIEL!!....THAT’S ME! GOD SENT ME?? TO MARY?? And coming to her, he said, “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” DING DING DING!!! I HAVE ACTUAL LINES IN THIS PLAY!! WOO HOO! BUT THEN, I ACTUALLY STARTED LISTENING, BECAUSE LET’S FACE IT, AT THIS POINT THE STORY WAS ALL ABOUT ME, THE ANGEL!

As I continued to listen with my arms outstretched and open, I remember getting it. The Angel was the messenger that brought good news TO Mary. All of a sudden I felt so honored because not only was I center stage with a sparkly costume, with the most amount of lines!! But seriously, I actually felt a surge of my heart connecting my tiny soul to the story. I didn’t hear a voice per se, but I do remember thinking in my own head “I want to be God’s messenger. What a great role? I want to tell people good news. I want to be shiny. To bring peace when people are afraid.” And I have essentially been working on being a messenger ever since…as a musician, speaker, retreat director, teacher, youth minister, writer, etc. It was my very own Annunciation and we all have those moments when grace announces God’s presence in our lives, when the Spirit breathes on us the wonders of being favored by God, and when our lives become troubled by mystery.

Back to our story…

But Mary was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. AH SHE PONDERED = WHICH MEANS SHE THOUGHT CAREFULLY ABOUT IT BEFORE MAKING A DECISION.

Mary was greatly troubled even before there was any mention of a baby. When God steps into our lives, it should trouble us, because it hopefully has disrupted our usual lives so that we pay closer attention. Trouble or a certain restlessness is the starting point of discipleship and we see that clearly from Mary’s reaction. Advent is that restlessness manifested in our waiting, opened in our prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus, come,” and discovered in all the richness of our faith traditions and even in the commercialism: the lights, the parties, the decorations, etc. Advent makes us wonderfully restless. If we stop and look at our lives, we will notice all kinds of Angel Gabriel moments won’t we? God with us….EMMANUEL….will trouble us and praise God for the trouble.

Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

And there’s the proposal! I wonder if Gabriel got down on one knee (I hope he did!!). I never really noticed it before but this proposal was NOT in the form of a question, “Hail Mary, full of grace, WILL you marry me?” There was no “I don’t know what’s on your to do list for today, but how about becoming an unmarried teen mom? Or have you ever thought about, you know, being the mother of God?  NO, it was, “you WILL conceive in your womb and bear a son.” Even though God did not present this announcement in the form of a question, Mary still had a yes or no option, and we always have a yes or not option to God’s grace. He will never force us into relationship with him. But we learn another thing about Mary’s character in this particular exchange. So the angel, who obviously looked and sounded frightening based on Mary being greatly troubled by him, tells her that she has been chosen by God to give birth to his son, thus turning her whole life upside down, and in this great moment of tremendous fear, Mary has the courage to be able to ask a question, “How can this be?” Is that not an example of true prayer? Dialogue between us and our beloved?  Mary felt close enough to God to ask him how. I want to be THAT close to God. Mary’s courage and authenticity shines forth in this moment when she questions God. There is dignity in our questions because when we question we are not saying no, we are saying that we are open to the possibility but we would like a little more information. Questions are a proactive response to the call and Mary teaches us to pray authentically whenever we are pondering something in our heart. Mary teaches us how to pray.

And the angel said to her in reply, “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 called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived^* a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.”

The next part of the scene is my favorite part to imagine. Mary asked how, Gabe tells her sort of, because who really knows what the heck “the Holy Spirit will overshadow you” means, right, and then the ball is back in Mary’s court. Poets and painters have tried to capture this moment through art, and I’ve heard it described that the entire universe paused, and all the heavens and the earth stood still in the silence waiting for her soul to reply. Can you picture it like a movie…where everything on the screen freezes and there is an extreme close up on Mary’s face as she contemplates, as she ponders in her heart a decision that would save the entire world…It was as pregnant a pause as there ever was. Visualize all the angels and saints peering down from the heavens, and time standing still just waiting for her yes or no. She had a choice because God never forces us into relationship with him. And finally after the universe held is breath, she delivers the six words that would forever change each and every one of our lives…Let it be done unto me!

I am sure the champagne flowed freely in heaven, maybe cigars were passed around, mozeltoffs, high fives among the angels, party time in heaven because Jesus was officially entering the world! Best proposal story ever!!

So there is a kind of formula from this story that can be applied to each one of our annunciations or Angel Gabriel moments.

1.     God Calls Us: Hail, favored one. Hello my beloved. Jen, it’s me.

2.     God Gifts Us: In Mary’s case, he gave her the gift of Messiah, courage, and grace, but in our case it will be different kinds of gifts for each one of us like music, or words, or kindness, or children, or time, or desire to serve, whatever.

3.    We Respond In Prayer: Mary pondered it in her heart and then she asked how, and we too should move God’s call and His gifts into our hearts, right next to Jesus and then ask questions. Our response to the call is as important as the call.

4.     There Is An Answer: It might not always be the answer that we want but that is why the question is so important because it opens us up to whatever possibility God has for us.

5.     Birth or New Life: Mary brought Jesus into the world and we also bring Jesus into the world every time we share the fruit of our souls, every time we say yes to the Holy Spirit, every time we cooperate with grace, we bring new life.

To close this gospel reflection I want to share a poem that I wrote after hearing Dotti Hulburt’s version of this talk last year on retreat.

Pregnant Pause

As I walk, weight and balance shift back and forth like a buoy on the water.

I'm at the mercy of rhythm and the rhythm never stops breathing

in and out, up and down, through and through.

Breezy arms dance across my skin and tickle me

with the oneness of creation.

I reflect on that "pregnant pause" the cosmos took when Mary pondered

yes OR no in her heart.

How long that moment must have been for the universe and

how short that moment must have been for her.

Eternity mated with one single moment in time.

Irony, paradox, and perfection all rolled up into

one whisper, one answer, one yes.

Do our everyday whispers, and answers, and yeses consummate?

I believe they do but I will ponder it in my heart until the day comes

when I too will say yes OR no to love.

Will the universe stand still for my pregnant pause?

I don't know but let it be one unto me.

Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Lectionary: 689

Reading 1 GN 3:9-15, 20

After the man, Adam, had eaten of the tree,
the LORD God called to the man and asked him, “Where are you?”
He answered, “I heard you in the garden;
but I was afraid, because I was naked,
so I hid myself.”
Then he asked, “Who told you that you were naked?
You have eaten, then,
from the tree of which I had forbidden you to eat!”
The man replied, “The woman whom you put here with me—
she gave me fruit from the tree, and so I ate it.”
The LORD God then asked the woman,
“Why did you do such a thing?”
The woman answered, “The serpent tricked me into it, so I ate it.”

Then the LORD God said to the serpent:
“Because you have done this, you shall be banned
from all the animals
and from all the wild creatures;
on your belly shall you crawl,
and dirt shall you eat
all the days of your life.
I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will strike at your head,
while you strike at his heel.”

The man called his wife Eve,
because she became the mother of all the living.

Responsorial Psalm PS 98:1, 2-3AB, 3CD-4

R. (1) Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done wondrous deeds;
His right hand has won victory for him,
his holy arm.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
The LORD has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and his faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
R. Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous deeds.

Reading 2 EPH 1:3-6, 11-12

Brothers and sisters:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,
as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world,
to be holy and without blemish before him. 
In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ,
in accord with the favor of his will,
for the praise of the glory of his grace
that he granted us in the beloved.

In him we were also chosen,
destined in accord with the purpose of the One
who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will,
so that we might exist for the praise of his glory,
we who first hoped in Christ.

Alleluia SEE LK 1:28

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Hail, Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you;
blessed are you among women.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel LK 1:26-38

The angel Gabriel was sent from God
to a town of Galilee called Nazareth,
to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph,
of the house of David,
and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said
and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
Then the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God.
Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son,
and you shall name him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High,
and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father,
and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever,
and of his Kingdom there will be no end.”
But Mary said to the angel,
“How can this be,
since I have no relations with a man?”
And the angel said to her in reply,
“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 called holy, the Son of God.
And behold, Elizabeth, your relative,
has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.”
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.