{"id":30706,"date":"2014-03-24T23:54:15","date_gmt":"2014-03-25T03:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=30706"},"modified":"2015-03-13T16:31:36","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:31:36","slug":"how-can-this-be-a-homily-for-the-annunciation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2014\/03\/how-can-this-be-a-homily-for-the-annunciation\/","title":{"rendered":"“How can this be?”: a homily for The Annunciation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From the vault, here\u2019s part of a homily from Advent in 2008, with some thoughts on the feast we celebrate on March 25:<\/p>\n

+++<\/p>\n

How many of us have been blindsided by events we never expected<\/strong> \u2013 a twist on\u00a0 life\u2019s path that we never saw coming, for better or for worse \u2014 and asked\u00a0 ourselves, in fury or despair or bewilderment:<\/p>\n

How can this be?<\/p>\n

And here Mary is told, simply:<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing is impossible with God.\u201d<\/p>\n

And that is enough.<\/p>\n

That is all she needs to hear.\u00a0 She will accept God\u2019s will and she will\u00a0 carry it out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s \u2013 in every sense \u2013 extraordinary.\u00a0 How is it that someone so young can\u00a0 so easily say \u201cYes\u201d to what will undoubtedly be difficult, and painful, and\u00a0 maybe even scandalous? The very idea of it is a shock.\u00a0 It goes against our\u00a0 culture.<\/p>\n

We live in an age when it\u2019s so easy to say \u201cNo.\u201d We can make life what we\u00a0 want it to be \u2013 even if that\u2019s not what it\u00a0should<\/em>\u00a0be.<\/p>\n

You can fight aging with botox, avoid dieting with liposuction.\u00a0 You can\u00a0 make a baby in a Petri dish. You can get a mortgage for an overpriced house with\u00a0 a three-car garage that you can\u2019t afford.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And, if it all becomes too\u00a0 stressful, society tells us that you can get rid of anything that\u2019s just\u00a0 inconvenient \u2013 even an unborn child.<\/p>\n

But Mary didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Mary wouldn\u2019t.\u00a0\u00a0 She listened to another voice.\u00a0 The voice\u00a0 of an angel.\u00a0 When Mary asked the question the world asks so often of God \u2013 \u201cHow\u00a0 can this be? \u201c\u2014 the answer ignited in her a fire.\u00a0 The fire of the Holy Spirit,\u00a0 the fire of possibility.<\/p>\n

The answer is this: it can be because God wills it to be<\/strong>.\u00a0 Nothing is\u00a0 impossible with God.<\/p>\n

How often we forget that.\u00a0 How often we disbelieve it, or mistrust it.<\/p>\n

But the lesson of The Annunciation is so clear.<\/p>\n

Mary, we\u2019re told, was troubled at what she heard.\u00a0 But what\u00a0 follows is a message for all of us.\u00a0 In our moments of confusion, when we are\u00a0 troubled by what God brings to us\u2026nothing is impossible.<\/p>\n

Angels will speak.\u00a0 The Spirit will come.\u00a0 A light will break through the\u00a0 skies and guide the world to a savior in a stable.<\/p>\n

How can this be?<\/em><\/p>\n

It can\u2026because nothing is impossible with God.<\/p>\n

\u2026Mary is challenged.\u00a0 And so are we.\u00a0 The\u00a0 gospel asks us to look deeply at the unexpected, and the miraculous, and the\u00a0 mysterious.<\/p>\n

It asks us to consider possibility.\u00a0 And it asks us to look into our own\u00a0 hearts.<\/p>\n

How do we respond to the Gabriels in our own lives?<\/strong><\/p>\n

How do we react when God suddenly knocks on our door to announce a change in\u00a0 plans?<\/p>\n

When the doctor calls\u2026<\/p>\n

When the market fails\u2026<\/p>\n

When a child becomes ill\u2026or a parent is bedridden\u2026or the pregnancy results\u00a0 aren\u2019t what you thought they\u2019d be\u2026or wanted them to be.<\/p>\n

We may find ourselves brought up short by life.\u00a0 We may feel disappointment,\u00a0 confusion, maybe even anger.\u00a0 And we may ask those words that Mary asked so long\u00a0 ago, \u201cHow can this be?\u201d<\/p>\n

How will I get through it?\u00a0 How will I manage?<\/p>\n

The answer is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago.<\/p>\n

And that is what we cling to.<\/p>\n

It is possible.<\/p>\n

Because nothing is impossible with God.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 From a\u00a02008\u00a0Advent homily\u00a0<\/a><\/strong>on The Annunciation, which we celebrate today.<\/p>\n

Image: Annunciation Coloring Page<\/a> from Crusade by the Maryknoll Sisters, 1955. <\/em><\/p>\n

I just love how Gabriel is wearing a dalmatic.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the vault, here\u2019s part of a homily from Advent in 2008, with some thoughts on the feast we celebrate on March 25: +++ How many of us have been blindsided by events we never expected \u2013 a twist on\u00a0 life\u2019s path that we never saw coming, for better or for worse \u2014 and asked\u00a0 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-homilies","category-mary"],"yoast_head":"\n"How can this be?": a homily for The Annunciation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the vault, here's part of a homily from Advent in 2008, with some thoughts on the feast we celebrate on March 25: +++ How many of us have been\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, 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