the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today's feast, called the Annunciation, is one
of the most celebrated and honored feasts of
the Church. The one that is recognized as one
of the holy and glorious peace days. It generally
falls during the great Lenten season. And even
though it may even fall in Holy Week, the solemn
and penitential nature and character of the services
are somewhat tempered because this event is one
of joy, praise, and thanksgiving. Or as the scriptures
tell us, this is a special day. To rejoice because
in the words of St. Paul, sing hymns and psalms
to the Lord. And sing with praise in your heart.
And give thanks for everything to God, the Father
of our Lord. One of the significant elements
that we hear in the hymn of today, and I want
to quote it, as we celebrate this sacred and
solemn feast of the Mother of God, let us clap
our hands, O people of God, and give glory to
God. Who was born of her. What an expression.
Clap your hands oh ye people. And give glory
to God. Who was born of her. What we celebrate.
On this annunciation to the Theotokos. Is that
she was favored by God. To give birth to Christ.
The Savior of the world. In the scripture reading
from St. Luke, we heard that the Gabriel approached
Mary and said, you shall conceive a child and
call his name Jesus. Well, to the wonderment
and to the astonishment of this young maiden
of Nazareth, she asked, how can this be? I know
not a man. Fear not, said the angel, fear not.
For the Holy Spirit will descend on you and the
Holy One born. shall be called the Son of God.
Now though there was astonishment in her in hearing
this incredible divine announcement, she responded
as she always responded since her presentation
to the temple. She did so with faith. humility
and obedience in her words let it be Lord let
it be according to thy word now what is so extraordinary
so unique and almost incomprehensible is that
God's plan of salvation God's divine plan of
salvation depended upon the response of this
maiden from Nazareth. Why is this so extraordinary?
Because she, Mary, had the opportunity because
of her free will. To say no. But instead she
said. Let it be according to thy word. God never.
Imposes his will. On any of us. We all have the
opportunity. To say no to God. Because of our
freedom. And in commemorating this feast. We
confess, we acknowledge, and we embrace a divine
mystery which surpasses all human reasoning and
logic. In the words of the Tramparian, today
is the beginning of our salvation. The Son of
God becomes the Son of Virgin. This is hard for
the non -believer. And yet, it is the basis of
our faith. The Son of God becomes the Son of
the Virgin. Why is this so extraordinary? Because
the Annunciation is the turning point of human
history. As we hear on Pascha night, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was God, and the Word
became flesh. The past, the present, and the
future of humanity was forever changed by the
affirmative response of the maiden. of Nazareth.
Let it be according to thy word. And in the reading
for today we also heard that following the divine
announcement the Virgin Mary visited her cousin
Elizabeth. And she greeted Elizabeth with these
remarkable words. Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And the
evangelist Luke records the incomparable, magnificent.
Of the blessing. When she sings. My soul magnifies
the Lord. And my spirit. Rejoices in God. My
Savior. The mystery. Of eternity. Is uncovered.
The silence. Of eternity. Is broken. because
of these words, let it be, let it be according
to thy words. I doubt if anyone could ever overemphasize
the significance of Mary's role in the history
of our salvation. It took some of the saints
to write books, not pages, but books on this
divine revelation. It's extremely important to
realize that Mary was not passive, nor did she
simply Played the role as an incubator. She was
mother in every sense of the word. She bore Christ.
She nursed Christ. She raised the Son of God.
Spiritually, liturgically, dogmatically. The
fountain of tenderness, Mary, made possible God's
entrance into our world. And she did so with
these remarkable, extraordinary, and humble words.
Be it. according to thy word. I doubt that there's
a greater blessing and encouragement for us to
hear than the announcement that Gabriel made
to the Blessed Virgin. It's glorious. It's wonderful.
It goes beyond our comprehension and yet divine
reality had become part of our human reality
because the Annunciation marks the beginning
of our salvation. It leads. This announcement
leads to the cross. And this announcement culminates
not in the crucifixion, but in the resurrection
of Christ. It leads to the empty tomb, the door
of new eternal life. In the risen Christ. Splendid
God.