In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Tomorrow in the Armenian Church we celebrate St. Mary, the Mother of God, in a very special way. Tomorrow is the Feast of the Annunciation. This feast takes place every year on April 7. It is the day the Church Fathers set aside to honor the trust and faith this greatest of saints had in her heart for her God. God Himself deemed the young St. Mary worthy to give birth to His Son and usher in the era of Jesus Christ and the New Testament.
The Annunciation plays a very important role in the life of the Christian faith. All churches celebrate this feast but not with anything approaching the splendor of Christmas or Easter. Yet the sequence of those events all began with the Annunciation. On the day, the Angel Gabriel visited Mary and delivered the message that she has been chosen by God to bear His Son in this world. This sixteen-year-old young woman submitted her life to God’s plan because of her trust and her faith setting the stage for the Birth, the Last Supper, the Miracles, the Crucifixion and the Resurrection to take place in this world as God planned.
During the Middle Ages, April 7th was considered the start of the New Year because the Feast of the Annunciation falls on this date every year without exception. The Annunciation is considered the first spark that ignited the Christian faith in this world—a faith that will touch billions of lives over time and it all began with St. Mary accepting God’s plan for her life.
The Feast of the Annunciation is one of those days where we get to look to our calendars and see the picture. I say that because nine months from now we will be celebrating Christmas. That is what this feast celebrates, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she was chosen to have a baby and name Him Jesus. This holy day of the Annunciation listed in the church calendar on April 7th is exactly nine months before Christmas that we celebrate on January 6.
Today, we hear the rare words of St. Mary and that is a treat because her words are limited in the Bible. With these words, Mary “opens up her heart” and shows the pure joy inside. She was deemed worthy to become the Mother of the Lord and that filled her with great joy. In her joy, she says the following: “And God’s mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.” Great words and comforting words. These words offer encouragement. They show us that God is with us at all times in both the joys of life and sorrows of life, in our days of health and in our days of illness, in the good days and bad days. God is with those3 who invite Him into their lives.
This is the promise of St. Mary. “The mercy of God is on those who fear Him…” she says She uses the word “fear” but what did she mean by that? For St. Mary, the word “fear” means to respect the ways of God, to do as He expects and to simply obey His teachings. In other words, follow the teachings of God and you will enjoy His mercy in your eternal life. It means take a look at the people God has placed in your life and take the clouds in their lives and bring out the sun and help turn their tears into a smile. For every trial they face, become a safe place for them and for every “sigh” they express, be a source of comfort.
So the words of St. Mary speak very plainly to our lives. We are to use our time in this world, no matter how long or short that is, to bring honor to God by meeting each other’s needs and spreading His Light everywhere we go in this world. “The mercy of God is extended to all who ‘fear’ Him from generation to generation.”
May we all take the time to think about how we personally seek the mercy of God in our lives. We are to use our time in this world, no matter how long or short that is, to bring honor to God by meeting each other’s needs and spreading His Light everywhere we go in this world. Today we are encouraged to invite St. Mary in and hear her words.
Something for all of us to think about.
Amen.