by Unvirtuous Abbey
Gospel Reading: Luke 1:46b–55 [Alternative]
For Sunday, December 15, 2013—Advent 3
Given the glitches in our technology, such as sending texts to the wrong person, I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Gabriel had mixed up the messages and said to Zechariah: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.” Of course, that being said, it would be easier to believe the story of a divine birth from a pregnant Zechariah than that of a pregnant Mary.
Double Trouble
It was the tradition of me and my liberal theology friends to explain away this passage. It was a “troubling text” because, first, it lifts up the unattainable (and undesirable) image of women having to be pure (no premarital sex = baby) and maternal. Let’s face it, the virgin birth is SOOO hard that to even question it blows systematic fuses.
Secondly, then, it made more sense to us to explore the idea of Mary living in a land occupied by military forces (who used rape as a way of maintaining power and control) that Mary would be impregnated by a soldier and not want to be shamed by a culture of that era who would likely look down upon the woman (though a victim) as opposed to the man (the perpetrator.) And given that knowledge, Joseph becomes her partner by protecting his troubled betrothed’s honour and marrying her just the same, when traditions would have permitted him to do otherwise.
Scary Stuff
For all intents and purposes in the Gospel of Luke, after her encounter with an angel, Mary still looked like any young teenage girl did. She loved music, and her response to the news from Gabriel was to sing new words to the ancient hymn of Hannah. She translates the overwhelming message of the angel into good news, and thus becomes the first disciple.
But in context, the story of the advent of the coming of God into the world in a new way was beheld by three (Zechariah, Elizabeth, and Mary) who were really scared by the prospect of what was to come—frightened, yet marveling at the news that it was to be so.
Plea Bargaining?
Originally a word meaning "a plea", "an expectation" or an "account," Mary becomes pregnant with the ‘Logos.’ Although she becomes the Word-bearer, after her encounter with Gabriel a question was spoken into Mary’s life: “How will this be?” She becomes the Question-bearer as well.
In her poem Logos, the poet Mary Oliver writes, “If you were there, it was all those things. If you can imagine it, it is all those things.... Accept the miracle. Accept, too, each spoken word spoken with love.”
Mary bore witness to the question spoken within her. She magnifies and she rejoices.
Power of Magnification
I can’t remember the last time I magnified anything, let alone rejoiced at the news of a life-altering event. Mary couldn’t order a book online, and let’s not even imagine the comments on her Facebook status update when the news spreads about this divine conception. She didn’t have a group for new parents to attend nor did she have anti-nausea meds (let’s face it, Jesus was probably a kicker, too) or the option of an underwater birth. Yet, what she did have was the ability to speak holy words into her trouble and terror. And perhaps that’s the most troubling thing about this text.
It’s one thing to accept words spoken with love; though, it’s quite another to accept tragedy. But our response is the same: to speak the holy into it.
How do we speak the holy into the hurricane-ravaged Philippines? How do we speak the holy into the crushed parents and community of Sandy Hook?
Mary’s experience of God and Christ becomes our shared experience of God and Christ: “How will this be?”
The Hardest Question
It’s easy to try resolving troubling narratives with theological platitudes, such as, “Everything happens for a reason” or “God doesn’t give you more than you can handle.” But it’s just as disturbing to think that the Spirit "came upon her.” Isn’t that equally awful and terrifying?
Can’t we just let troubling texts lie?
Unvirtuous Abbey appeared on the Twitter scene on August 6th, 2010. They are a slightly sarcastic, yet hopeful, group of monks. They try to elevate the conversation with humorous tweets about the Bible, God, and Jesus. They also pray about geeks, Guns and Roses, and Charlie Sheen. They have been interviewed by The Times -Union, The Practical Catholic , the Virtual Abbey and most recently by CBC-Radio Canada in a piece entitled "The Main Monk." They have considered themselves lucky to be among the guest bloggers of "The Hardest Question" and readily trade chores for the chance to write. [Ed. Note: We at THQ consider ourselves lucky to have had UV blog for us!]
