The Lord Draws Close To Us
“Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign:
the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son,
and shall name him Emmanuel,
which means ‘God is with us!’”Isaiah 7:14
First published as “Never Alone” on March 25, 2022.
As mentioned in a previous entry, feast days are usually not celebrated as such during Lent except generally for two solemnities that occur during the Lenten Season: St. Joseph and today, the Annunciation of the Lord. Although very commonly mistaken, this solemnity is not about Mary being conceived but rather the day when Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb by the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit.
After refusing to ask the Lord for a sign as He had told him to, the Prophet Isaiah told King Ahaz that the Lord Himself will give him a sign: a virgin will bear a son whose name will be Emmanuel, “God is with us.” A little over 700 years later, the Angel Gabriel went to a young woman by the name of Mary who lived in a little town in Galilee called Nazareth and greeted her with “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
In the Gospel of Luke we see the fulfillment of the prophecy spoken of by Isaiah to King Ahaz. King Ahaz was told the child will be named Emmanuel meaning “God is with us” and the first words the Angel said to Mary reiterated it, “The Lord is with you.” At the Annunciation, God became man, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. This dwelling is further illustrated by the “overshadowing,” recalling the cloud imagery in the Old Testament where God encountered Moses and the cloud descending upon the “Holy of Holies” in the temple where the Ark of the Covenant is, signifying the presence of God. Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant for Jesus is the New Covenant. God dwelled within Mary and when it was time Jesus who is God-with-us came into the world making His dwelling among all of us. God’s presence is here.
Today we are invited to be bearers of Christ who has made His dwelling within us, knowing that we are never alone because God is with us. May we say a prayer of thanksgiving today for the great love God has for us, to the point of becoming one of us, taking on our human nature so that He might redeem us from its deathly effects. Because Jesus assumed a human nature, we now dare share in His divine nature. In Christ we are never alone. Even when all seems dark and hopeless we only need to remember the Angel’s words, “The Lord is with you.” God has made His dwelling among us, what or whom should we fear?
