Chaire, Kecharitomene! (Hail, full of grace!)

I woke up this morning with Luke Ch. 1 swirling around in my head. The stories of Gabriel's visits to Zechariah and Mary are probably one of my favorites.

There are some stark contrasts between Gabriel's encounters with Zechariah and with Mary.

Gabriel meets Zechariah at the altar of incense, where he took his turn to enter the sanctuary. The angel is seen standing there, at the right of the altar. Gabriel meets Mary (no mention is made of where she was at the time) and greets her with "Hail, full of grace!" Although both are troubled by Gabriel's appearance, the angel reassures them in very specific ways, speaking to them of their future sons.

To Zechariah he says,

"Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of [the] Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord."

To Mary:

“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” 

Zechariah's and Mary's responses are also very different.

Zechariah responds, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."

Mary responds, "How can this be, since I have no relations with a man?"

One responds with disbelief, the other with innocence. 

Gabriel offers explanations to both, with opposite effects in Zechariah and in Mary. 

The exchange with Zechariah leaves him mute: 

And the angel said to him in reply, “I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time.”

Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and were amazed that he stayed so long in the sanctuary. But when he came out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He was gesturing to them but remained mute.

The exchange with Mary is punctuated by her fiat: 

And the angel said to her in reply, “The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

What fascinates me is how God doesn't leave Zechariah and Elizabeth to struggle on their own with their overwhelming reality. Gabriel slips in the news to Mary that Elizabeth is already pregnant. After the angel leaves her, what does she do? 

"Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth."

There are clearly many, many lessons embedded here. I walked away from this meditation with a few thoughts. One can't help but experience a sense of wonder at the intense closeness of God's loving presence in the lives of his little ones. God involves both humans and spirits like Gabriel in the salvific plan, as collaborators and co-heirs to the Kingdom. There's also a caution to us - be careful when we express disbelief in the authenticity of God's gifts. Our tendency to be doubtful often grows with age. Take the gifts with joy and trust, not doubt or fear. Finally there's a shining example of what one should do in response to God's call - a trusting surrender to Divine Will: "May it be done unto me according to your word."