Full of Grace!

A Reflection on this Friday’s Gospel, Luke 1:26-38 - 20 December 2024

Sadly, many Christians greet others in this Advent season with, “Happy Holidays,” as a way not to offend. Yet 25 December is a holiday, not in spite of Christ but, precisely because of Christ. Rejoice! In the incarnation, God entering human flesh to redeem us, whatever Christ had by nature we now have by grace.

Have we lost the intense joy of the incarnation? It is life-giving, not just in the lives of believers, but for the whole world. It is a joy that should echo across time. From the moment the Angel Gabriel gave voice to the words, “Hail, full of grace” (Luke 1:28 DRB) God is accomplishing our salvation. Thank you, Mary, and Merry Christmas indeed.

Despite an at times ho-hum response, the incarnation changed the world. Because of the incarnation, the Angels recognize the Sacramental Grace that fills each of us. Filled with grace, like the blessed Virgin Mary, will each of us say “yes” to God’s will? Will we give birth to Jesus in the approaching Christmas season? That is our task!

Throughout the Middle Ages in northern Europe, the Church called today’s Mass the “Golden Mass.” In the Liturgy, the Gospel was acted out in parts, much the same way that the passion is proclaimed on Good Friday. It was a Solemn High Mass, often lasting three or four hours with music and preaching to give full sway to the joy of the mystery proclaimed at the Annunciation. (O’Brien 7) The “Golden Mass” would often include the giving of letters to Mass participants written with gold leaf announcing the incarnation. What a beautiful reminder of the precious words Gabriel gave to Mary, and she accepted with her Fiat. (Luke 1:38)

The Church proclaims in the Gospel today, the words of the Angel Gabriel as St Jerome translated them, "Hail, full of grace!" This is despite the more literal translation of, “Hail, favored one” found in many translations of the Bible. This literal translation loses the full significance of Gabriel’s words. The Greek, charitŏō (χαριτόω), means gifted or graced with “super-high” favor. Unfortunately, modern language translations do not do the Greek justice. That is why St. Jerome rightly uses “gratia plena,” “full of grace,” to capture the full meaning of the Angels’ greeting.

Imagine the effect the words of the Annunciation must have had on Mary; "Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you." The words state a fact. God’s grace is preexistent in Mary. The angel does not say you will be filled with grace as an event that lies in the future, that through the gift of God in Mary’s womb, she “will be” somehow sanctified. Grace is already present in Mary. Nor does the angel say you are touched by grace, as if Mary’s significance is found only in the gift of the Christ Child, but that she is already “full” of Grace. God’s gift of His divine life already filled Mary’s every fiber. Grace precedes and is full. God never does anything in a small way.

Mary, God’s perfect vessel, with her “yes” gave the world Jesus, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Way, our Truth, our Life. The incarnation is the greatest event in human history and at that moment, only Mary knew it had even happened. The Messiah has arrived, fully God and fully man to save the world. It is truly the first act of His passion. Love comes down. That is what the “Golden Mass” so beautifully celebrated. God comes to Mary, a vessel specially prepared, and at her “yes” fills her with His divinity.

Just five days before Christmas, the Angel Gabriel comes to us as well in the Gospel. What will you say? Mass makes present the grace of the mysteries it celebrates. We do not just remember an event, we experience it. Through the Word proclaimed today, God makes a proposal to you and I in the same way He offered Mary an invitation. Through the Sacraments we too are vessels specially prepared that God may dwell in us, filling us with grace. He comes to us in seeming obscurity, as He came to Mary, with an offer to participate in the great story of salvation. Will you reply, “yes, come Lord Jesus?” If so, the Kingdom of God is just a little closer such that we celebrate not just, “the Holidays,” but Christ’s Mass. God has come, is here, and will come again.

Mother Mary help us to accept the invitation God sends us. Help us to respond just as you did, with your joyful “yes!” “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you!” Come our Christmas!

Endnotes:

Douay Rheims Bible (DRB), Translated from the Latin Vulgate. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009. Print.

O’Brien, John. A History of the Mass and Its Ceremonies in the Eastern and Western Church. New York: The Catholic Publication Society Co., 1881. Print.