Annunciation Voices Found
Mary heard the angel's message
Mary heard the angel's message:
"Greetings, Mary, favored one.
Do not fear, for God is with you; you will one day bear God's son."
Filled with questions, filled with wonder,
she proclaimed her faith in God: "May it be as you have spoken;
I'm the servant of the Lord!"
When she heard her cousin's greeting,
Mary's heart was filled with joy,
so she sang of God's great blessing
promised in her baby boy:
"God has looked on me with favor,
so I sing this song of praise.
God has worked, the proud to scatter;
humble hungry ones to raise."
Mary heard the shepherds' story,
words she treasured with delight.
Then an angel gave her warning:
"Flee with Jesus in the night!"
Mary wondered in her anguish,
what would be the pain he's know?
Fleeing then, she held him closely.
One day she would let him go.
Mary heard,"Who is my mother?
Who is in my family?
All who do my Father's bidding,
all these ones belong to me."
Later on the hill she heard him,
"Woman, see your new son there!
You, my friend, behold your mother!"
So Christ formed new bonds of care.
When they learned the Lord had risen,
Christ's disciples met to pray.
Mary was among the faithful,
bound in love, on Jesus' Way.
God, we see her, Christ's disciple,
loving, learning, serving, too.
Like her may we hear and answer,
"We, your servant, live for you."
Words: Carolyn Winfrey Gillette
Music: Ecce Deus, Alfred V. Fedak
About the hymn:
Gillette's hymn, appropriate for Advent or the Feast of the Annunciation, ties Mary's annunciation to the Resurrection and her proclamation of the Risen Christ as she comforts disciples mourning Jesus's death. In 2024, Annunciation falls after Easter on Monday, April 8, rather than March 25. "Mary heard the angel's message" is especially appropriate for a celebration of the Annunciation during Eastertide.
Annunciations!
Before appearing to Mary, messengers of God, spoke to other women proclaiming new life. In her Women's Lectionary, Wilda C. Gafney writes that "Hagar is the first woman in scripture granted an annunciation; the unnamed mother of Samson follows in Judges 13:3-7, followed by Mary, the mother of Jesus." (A Women's Lectionary for the Whole Church, Year B, Wilda C. Gafney, Church Publishing, Inc.2023, New York, NY, www.churchpublishing.org)
In Genesis 16:7-13 (NRSV) an angel, or messenger, speaks to Hagar. (see also the translation by Gafney in A Women's Lectionary)
7. The angel of the Lord found her (Hagar) by a spring of water in the wilderness, the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And he said, ‘Hagar, slave-girl of Sarai, where have you come from and where are you going?’ She said, ‘I am running away from my mistress Sarai.’ 9 The angel of the Lord said to her, ‘Return to your mistress, and submit to her.’ 10 The angel of the Lord also said to her, ‘I will so greatly multiply your offspring that they cannot be counted for multitude.’ 11 And the angel of the Lord said to her,
‘Now you have conceived and shall bear a son;
you shall call him Ishmael,[a]
for the Lord has given heed to your affliction.
12 He shall be a wild ass of a man,
with his hand against everyone,
and everyone’s hand against him;
and he shall live at odds with all his kin.’
13 So she named the Lord who spoke to her, ‘You are El-roi’;[b] for she said, ‘Have I really seen God and remained alive after seeing him?’[c
Meditation:
God found Hagar in the agony of abusive slavery. The Messenger told her she must continue to serve, but announced her pregnancy. That pregnancy would change the family dynamics of her household and expand the faith of peoples of the book. Like Mary, Hagar accepted the way of the Spirit, and agreed to live out the difficult but redeeming, will of God.
Anne Quigley's hymn below expresses Hagar's deep need, as an unseen slave woman, to be seen and heard by God and her family, a longing shared by all humankind.
Voices Found #147
Refrain:
There is a longing in our hearts, O Lord,
for you to reveal yourself to us.
There is a longing in our hearts for love
we only find in you, our God.
For justice, for freedom, for mercy: hear our prayer.
In sorrow, in grief:
Be near, hear our prayer, O God.
Be near, hear our prayer, O God.
Refrain
For wisdom, for courage, for comfort, hear our prayer.
In weakness, in fear:
Be near, hear our prayer, O God.
Refrain
For healing, for wholeness, for new life: hear our prayer.
In sickness, in death:
Be near, hear our prayer, O God.
Refrain
Lord save us, take pity, light in our darkness.
We call you, we wait:
Be near, hear our prayer, O God.
The Sunflower is the flower symbol for pregnancy, new life, and fertility.
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