“And she was troubled at this saying”
The Ember days punctuate the changing seasons of nature’s year with a spiritual reminder of the centrality of the work and ministry of the Holy Spirit as the guiding principle of the Church’s life. Historically, Embertide provided occasions for ordinations to the diaconate and the priesthood and so there is a focus on the purpose and meaning of the ministry: in Lent, in Whitsuntide, in the Fall, and in Advent. Along with that overarching ministerial concern there is a specific focus of intention for each Ember season. For Advent the spiritual theme is ‘Peace in the World’ and the specific Advent Embertide service appoints a reading from Micah as the lesson and the story of the Annunciation from Luke for the Gospel.
The lesson from Micah highlights the very powerful and some familiar concept of “beat[ing] swords into plowshares” and “spears into pruning hooks”, images of the transformation of the city at war into the city of peace, at peace in the cultivating of the land but as well the cultivation of the soul. That peace is ultimately found in our “go[ing] up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob” where “he shall teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths.” These are all images that belong to the redemption of our humanity, to our being restored to fellowship with God. It is very much about our learning the ways of God in whom alone we may find peace and joy.
It cannot be found simply in ourselves. We need these spiritual reminders precisely in the face of such catastrophes and tragedies such as what we confront in war-torn Aleppo in Syria, a great city that was once at the centre of the world’s trade routes, a city with a remarkable history and incredibly diverse forms of architecture representative of many of the finest elements in human culture. And now? A place of rubble and despair, a humanitarian disaster area and an indictment on all our protestations to world peace. Aleppo is but one sober and sombre reminder of the complex and confusing forms of human sin and wickedness. Yet such things may awaken us to the message of Pentecost, namely, that the human community and city has no unity in itself. Its peace and unity can only be found in God and in God with us.
Such is the burden of the Advent Ember Days which providentially recall us to the essential coming of God to us in Jesus Christ. The Incarnation is about God made man, the Word made flesh. It begins with the Annunciation of the angel Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary. That marks the first beginning in time of God’s being with us in the intimacy of the humanity of Jesus Christ; Advent brings us to “the fullness of time” in Christ’s nativity and birth from Mary. The Annunciation is the conception of Christ in Mary. Ultimately, her fiat mihi, her “be it unto me according to thy word,” is the truest form of human activity. Her ‘yes’ to God is the truest meaning of Christian Faith, and is itself an echo of the Son’s Word to the Father in the agony of Gethsemane and on the Cross: “Not my will but thy will be done” and “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” Everything is gathered into the motions of Trinitarian love which embrace and ground all our human loves.
There is nothing passive about the Annunciation. As Lancelot Andrewes profoundly remarks in one of his nativity sermons, it is her concipiet, not decipiet, not recepiet; her conceiving and not her being deceived, her conceiving and not merely her receiving, that belongs to the mystery of the Incarnation. There is the strong sense of Mary’s active engagement with God’s will and purpose for our humanity. The Annunciation story counters the Gnosticism that underlies Docetism, the idea that the Incarnation is just a kind of divine play-act, a mere seeming to be as opposed to the actual coming of God in the flesh. Concipiet – “thou shalt conceive in thy womb”, the angel proclaims.
The Advent Embertide Gospel of the Annunciation is shorter than the fuller account read at The Feast of the Annunciation. That latter account extends to Mary’s actual question to the Angel and to the ensuing exchange with the angel which ends with Mary’s “be it unto me according to thy word.” Here we have the angelic salutation and Mary’s being “troubled at this saying” and “cast[ing]in her mind what manner of salutation this should be” to which the angel responds with the proclamation of the conception. “Fear not, Mary”, the Angel says to her unvoiced question, “for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call his name Jesus.” It captures and anticipates the very celebration of Christmas. Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us as Saviour and King, the King of peace. The angel concludes: “He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; And of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Powerful images that connect Christ with the Davidic kingship and to the hopes of Israel, the hopes for our humanity. Powerful images that catapult us into the mystery of Christmas.
All our Advent hopes and Advent blessings are found in the idea of God being with us. It requires our attention and active engagement with the Word of God that comes to us in the mystery of the Advent in all of its rich fullness. That active engagement has very much to do with the deep and true questions of our souls. Mary’s questioning “in her mind” is very much to the point. It belongs to her pondering the meaning of the things that are and will be said about the holy child. We, like Mary, are to be actively engaged in the task of understanding the meaning of the Word of God. It is the constant Marian task of the Church in her proclamation of the Word of God and her waiting upon that word. It is fides quaerens intellectum, faith seeking understanding, which can only happen through our engagement with what is heard and seen. In that constant task of prayer and praise we find the true meaning of peace. It is found in God’s being with us through which we learn how God’s peace can begin to rule in our own hearts and world. Our being troubled at the various sayings of Scripture leads to our questioning so as to learn and understand. Such is the example of Mary.
“And she was troubled at this saying”
Fr. David Curry
Meditation for Advent Embertide 2016