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| "The Annunciation," by J. Tissot. Brooklyn Museum / Public Domain. |
Today the Word of the
Lord tells us he has given us the sign ... deep as the nether world ... high as the sky!
The sign is Emmanuel— God Is with Us— in person as a man of human flesh and blood,
human emotion, human intellect, and human will.
As such, he grew to the
fullness of manhood, suffered
under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. [Apostles’ Creed]
After dying on the
cross, Christ joined the poor ranks of the souls of the dead.
In the mystery of Good
Friday and Holy Saturday, Christ is the sign ... deep as the nether world: God who is with us as a man freely and
faithfully even in death.
Through all of it, he is
God consecrating himself to man in a new and everlasting covenant, and he is
man consecrating himself to God in a new and everlasting covenant.
As the Word to the
Hebrews said today, we
have been consecrated through the offering of the Body of Jesus Christ.
We belong to God in life
and in death.
However, the sign from
the Lord is also high as the sky.
On the third day that
would have known his death, Christ rose to new life.
In Christ, man has
conquered sin, suffering, sadness, and death, has ascended into heaven, and is seated at the
right hand of the Father.
In Christ, our human
identity is no longer merely deep as the nether world, but is now high as the sky.
In Christ and in his
Mother human identity is utterly full of grace.
We borrow Mary’s
question, and turn it to our own use.
How can this be...?
Can we be full of grace high as the sky?
We know we still freely
throw ourselves down beneath sin.
How should sinners ever
come to be sons and daughters of God?
In the same way that a
virgin came to be virginal mother and mother of God!
The Holy Spirit will
come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.
Because of the gift of
his power, sinners can be reborn as holy sons and daughters of God, if they but
choose freely to live as servants of the Lord, so that it may be done to them
according to the angelic word.
In the victory of his
faithfulness, God is with us in his Body and Blood, so that by our own willing,
flesh-and-blood faithfulness to him, we can be with him forever as his sons and
daughters.
