The Annunciation/Incarnation

This past Friday was March 25th, if you're somewhat astute you'll realize that it is 9 months until Christmas.  In the Catholic Church we celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation on this date.  The following is the story of the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel to Mary from the the Lucan Infancy Narrative (Luke Chapter 1: 26-38):

 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.

And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one! 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. 

I like to (and think as a Church we should) refer to the day as the Feast of the Incarnation.  We often pray for the "Cherishing and Protection of human life from the moment of conception until natural death."  The implication of the plea makes it obvious that we are, first and foremost., pro-life and that we believe life begins at the moment of conception in the womb.  It doesn't take much to realize that the Annunciation then is the celebration of that moment when God took on the human form of our flesh in what we call and proclaim our belief as the Incarnation.  It is such a solemn belief and we accept it with such profound reverence that when we proclaim it in the Nicene-Constantinople creed on Christmas and this Solemnity we genuflect at the words "by the power of the Holy Spirit He (Jesus) was born of the Virgin Mary and became man," and otherwise bow.

The Incarnation, Msgr. Anthony A. LaFemina, Copyright © 2000

At Saint Anthony Parish we've come up with a group in favor of life called the Incarnation Group.  For the Anunciation/Incarnation we came up with a way to remember, which was to join narrow baby blue and pink ribbons to a wider white one, making a loop and pinning it on to our clothes.  The white represents innocence and sanctity of life and the blue and pink ribbons are for the infant boys and girls never born.  The group made over 600 ribbons that we distributed with the adjoining Icon, created by Msgr. Anthony LaFemina, to the parishioners.  To read more about the Icon link to the following web page: http://wf-f.org/03-1-IconExpl.html.  It was also great to have celebrated the Mass of the Annunciation on Catholic TV and explain the work of the Incarnation Group.  It would be great if, in addition to doing something as the Catholics of our nation, we did more than just march on Washington on the anniversary of the Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision in January and pray for life as we celebrate the Month of the Rosary in October that we proclaim from every corner of the world where Mass is celebrated that as we commemorate the Annunciation/Incarnation we defend, proclaim and challenge the Innocence, Dignity, Sanctity and Protection of all Human life from the Moment of Conception!  Our Lady of the Annunciation.  Pray for us.
The following is a painting by Henry Ossawa Tanner, son of a Minister, who painted and drew many religious figures.  The painting was on display during an exhibit at the M.H. de Young Museum in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.  I was living in California at the time and was privileged to have seen the original.  It's one of my favorite depictions of the Annunciation.

Tanner, Henry Ossawa
The Annunciation
1898
Oil on canvas
57 x 71 1/2 in. (144.78 x 181.61 cm)
Philadelphia Museum of Art