The
Annunciation, linked with the Cross, is a flat out rejection of this Darwinian
way of thinking. When I affirm that my life is a series of deaths to self, I
choose something other than “survival of the fittest” and “kill or be killed.”
Rather, I make choices as a consumer, as a parent, as a spouse, as a citizen,
as a member of the Church, that benefit someone other than myself.
In both
Eastern and Western liturgical traditions, March 25th marks a special event in
the life of Jesus Christ: His conception in the womb of the Virgin Mary. This
event is also known as the Annunciation, when according to the Gospel of St.
Luke, the Archangel Gabriel came to the Virgin and announced, “Do not be
afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive
in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” (Luke 1:30-31)
Mary’s
response to this announcement is a familiar and beloved one: “Behold, I am the
handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)
According to Church tradition, her words of acceptance were what allowed God’s
Word to enter and initiate within her the human conception of her Son.
Less well
known is why March 25th is the date of the Annunciation. Some scholars argue
that Christian chose the pagan feast of Sol Invictus (“the Invincible Sun”) on
December 25th to celebrate the birth of Jesus. As a result, the feast of Jesus’
conception was established nine months earlier on—you guessed it—March 25th.
This line
of argumentation has recently been replaced by a more interesting explanation.
Scholars now suggest that some early Christians believed that Jesus actually
died on March 25th. And because they ascribed to Him the ancient Jewish piety
that a prophet died on the same day as he was conceived, they also established
the date for His conception. While the celebration of Jesus’ death later
shifted, becoming dependent on the lunar cycle, the Annunciation remained
fixed, with Christmas nine months later.
Whether
this explanation is ultimately factual, I neither know nor care; entertaining
its possibility does, however, offer a rich opportunity for reflection. If
Jesus did die on the same day as He was conceived, then from the moment of His
conception, He was destined to die. Further, if Jesus is the pattern after
which every human being is supposed to be made, then you and I are also born to
die, as He was.
This is
more than just to say that one day, all of us are going to die. The coincidence
of Jesus’ conception and His death suggest to that the purpose of our existence
is to die, not just “in the end,” but every day, moment by moment. Just as
Jesus’ ultimate death coincided with His conception, every instant of my life
must also coincide with a death—an offering of myself for others without
concern for my own welfare.
Frankly,
the world around us takes the opposite tack. We are born, are taught to
survive, are filled with knowledge and skills, find jobs and careers, acquire
wealth and material possessions, invest, save money for day—all so that we can
manage our destinies, if not completely then a little more completely than
before.
Beneath
that imperative to manage and control is a more primeval impulse: the fear of
death, over which we have no control. The need to survive, to cheat death or
put it off for as long as possible is the ultimate driving force behind almost
every aspect of individual, social, economic and political life in this world.
The
Annunciation, linked with the Cross, is a flat out rejection of this Darwinian
way of thinking. When I affirm that my life is a series of deaths to self, I
choose something other than “survival of the fittest” and “kill or be killed.”
Rather, I make choices as a consumer, as a parent, as a spouse, as a citizen,
as a member of the Church, that benefit someone other than myself. I am willing
to take cuts, live with less, deprive myself of comforts and conveniences, so
that other individuals, communities, species, the world outside myself—might
survive and thrive. It’s counterintuitive and revolutionary.
Am I
destroyed when I make the decision to make my life choices a series of little
deaths? By no means. After all, if I die to myself so that you might live, and
you die to yourself so that I might live, we both end up, not just alive, but
enriched by one another’s lives. And even if you refuse to respond in kind to
my act of self-sacrifice, I can still choose to die in imitation of Jesus’ own
self-emptying death for me and the entire human race, and in doing so, I find
myself resurrected and transformed by a His resurrection.
The
Annunciation, then, is a call to death, but not destruction. It is a challenge
to relinquish fear, to reject self-interest, to demonstrate the courage and the
conviction of the Virgin Mary’s simple acceptance of Gabriel’s announcement,
trusting like her that though the water may come up over our heads, God will
not allow us to be drowned in our sufferings, but will lead us through into the
promised land of life and joy.
Source: http://stillwaterorthodox.org/2016/04/annunciation-call-life-death/
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