For the past 1500 years, March 25 has been celebrated in the liturgical Christianity of western civilization as the Annunciation of Our Lord, the announcement of Angel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth that she had been chosen to become the mother of God’s Son, the Saviour of the world, Jesus Christ. Ironically, many early church historians believed that Jesus’ crucifixion actually took place on March 25, CE 33, exactly 1,991 years ago today!
Like the intersecting vertical and horizontal beams of Jesus’ cross (+), the precise moment when the historical Jesus was conceived in Virgin Mary’s womb, nine months before his Christmas birth in Bethlehem, intersects (+) with God’s plan of salvation, eternally conceived within the holy communion of divine soul mates: Father, (+) Son and Holy Spirit. Within the “pregnant pause” before the dawn of time, now gestating through time toward the fullness of God’s ever-present future beyond time, God’s infinite love encompasses all creation, and embraces all mortal humanity in the universal promise of eternal life within God’s divine immortality.
Merry Christmas, indeed!
Loving God, inspire our Holy Week pilgrimage that we may reflect on Jesus’ conception and birth in light of his passion and death, and follow him on the way of the cross to resurrection. Amen. — PL