ANNUNCIATION
OF THEOTOKOS
March
24th
Ευαγγελισμός
της Υπεραγίας Δεσποίνης ημών Θεοτόκου και Αειπαρθένου Μαρίας
Today we
celebrate the singularly most glorious conception.
The conception of the Son of God in the womb of the
Virgin Mary. The pages of the New
Testament begin to turn today with the first word of the Holy
Archangel Gabriel to the Virgin:
“Rejoice.” Today the wheels of our
salvation begin to turn, and the eternal mystery of the union of
God and man is revealed. The Son of
God becomes the Son of the Virgin (St. Lk. 1:28).
Together with
the Archangel let us cry aloud to the Theotokos: “Rejoice, O
full of grace, the Lord is with Thee.”
Let us stand in awe not only of the unspeakable and
ineffable miracle of God becoming man in the womb of the Virgin,
but today let us stand in awe of the Virgin herself.
This petite and unknown Virgin shows herself to be today
the strongest person in the world.
How is it that our Lady upon hearing this remarkable news, which
would involve her in sorrows inconceivable as well as joys
inexpressible, how is it that we hear no protest?
How is it that she does not say, “What about
my plans for my future Lord?
How can you simply dictate my path and do this without
consulting me first? How can you put
me in such a compromising situation to be the object of scorn
and ridicule since I will be pregnant and unmarried?”
Did we hear any such thing?
Only from Eve. These are the type of
questions we expect to hear from her who chose egoism over
fidelity to God. What do we hear
from our Lady? “Behold, the
bondservant of the Lord. Let it be
unto me according to Thy word” (St. Lk. 1:38).
Our Lady chose
the way of communion with God, and humble submission to the
Lord. She pursued a life of complete
co-operation with God in her salvation and the salvation of the
world. What is it that enabled the
Holy Virgin to maintain her inner peace and joyfully accept the
Lord’s will? Two things.
These two things are also the key for us to do the same.
With these two things no circumstances can throw us into
sin, no change of course brought on to us by providence can lead
us to frustration and anger, and no trial can anger us.
What are these two things?
Faith and humility. Faith enables us
to accept whatever comes to us, however outwardly difficult and
challenging, as the Lord’s loving will sent to us for our
salvation. For those who believe
with St. Paul that, “All things work together for good to those
who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Rom
8:28), there is no reason to respond in any fashion other than
that of our Lady. The Holy Virgin
trusted the Lord. Every frustration
and angry response to our external circumstances is the fruit of
temporary atheism. We would never
respond with anger and frustration if we remembered God and
believed in Him. Second to faith is
humility. Humility enables us to joyfully
be resigned to everything God brings us.
This is how our Lady accepted this shocking news.
“Behold the bondslave of the Lord.”
Why did she not protest? Why did she not demand her
rights? Because she humbly
understood that she was the Lord’s servant.
Servants are here to do their Master’s will, not to
pursue self-fulfillment and egotistic dreams.
How often I hear about “dreaming dreams” and “thinking
big”, for these ideas are so common in our culture.
We ought make sure that in all our dreaming we are
dreaming as God’s servants and not as though we are demigods
ruling our own small universes. Any
dream without service to God is no dream, it is a nightmare.
So today we celebrate our Lady’s faith and humility, and
we hold them up before all for emulation.
This is the life of peace free of all anger and
frustration. Today is the beginning
of our salvation. To the Lord of
all, the Almighty, to His Only-Begotten Son our Lord Jesus
Christ, and to the All-Holy, Good and Life-Giving Spirit be all
glory and honor forevermore. Amen.
Source:
Father Josiah Trenham
St. Andrew Orthodox
Church Riverside, Ca.
