A reflection for Compline Prayer on Annunciation Eve (March 24, 2020)
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Tonight is the Eve of the Feast of the Annunciation, a feast that commemorates the archangel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she will conceive and give birth to a son. This feast always falls on March 25th, exactly nine months before Christmas Day. On this day, also known as “Lady Day,” we remember Gabriel greeting Mary with the words “The Lord be with you.” According to Luke, Mary was much perplexed by the angel’s words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be (Luke 1:29). I like to think that if Mary were an Episcopalian, she would have been less bewildered by this greeting and would have simply responded, “And also with you.” Instead, she pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel Gabriel then essentially said to Mary: “God is within you and God is doing something inside of you right now. You might not feel it right now. In fact, you might feel lonely and afraid and confused right now, but I want you to know that God is at work within you. And you will give birth to something beautiful, something that will change the world eternally for the better.”
This last Sunday, Bishop Mariann Budde (whom I had a chance to meet this last September), the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, preached at the National Cathedral and said, “God is able to take the worst that can happen and bring good from it. That is a statement of faith. Dare to believe that there are forces of good at work in your life now, no matter what’s happening. And strive to open yourselves to them….There are forces for good in and around you, in and around us all. May God grant you wisdom and grant you courage; and never forget that it is for this hour that we are here.”
On this Eve of the Feast of Annunciation, let us receive these words of Bishop Budde as well as the words of the Archangel Gabriel who says to each one of us: “God is with you. Furthermore, God is within you. And God is doing something inside of you right now. You might not feel it right now. In fact, you might feel lonely and afraid and confused right now, but I want you to know that God is at work within you. And you will give birth to something beautiful, something that will change the world for the better and for eternity.”
May our response be like Mary’s: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your will.”
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 