The Word Became Flesh

April 1, 2011

There are few liturgical feasts that are more directly relevant to the pro-life cause than the Solemnity of the Annunciation. The Word became Flesh at the Annunciation, when the Virgin Mary is told that she has been chosen to be the Mother of the Savior and gives her consent.

Luke’s Gospel (1:26-38) tells us that "the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, ‘Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you… 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."

For Christians, the Annunciation should be a rich source of reflection on the sacred dignity of human life from its very beginning at conception. Our Lord didn’t descend from Heaven as a 30-year-old adult and begin His ministry. He "became man" like every human being, as a single cell embryo.

Our Lord did nothing by chance. Therefore, the fact that He began His earthly life as an embryo and experienced every subsequent stage of human life (fetus, infant, child, adolescent and adult) necessarily gives significant meaning and dignity to each of these stages.

Scripture (Luke 1:41-44) also tells us that after the Annunciation, Mary went in haste to visit her cousin Elizabeth. "When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

"And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy." Hence, it was an unborn child (John the Baptist) who first recognized Christ’s presence on earth.

In his meditations on the Annunciation, Father Frank Pavone asks these provocative questions: "Would it long be possible for believers, who meditate on the unborn child who was God, to fail to see that unborn children are made in God’s image?

"Would it be likely that those who ponder that our Almighty Protector was a baby in the womb will fail to see that babies in the womb deserve protection? Would it happen that Christians, who acknowledge that their Lord and Brother was an embryo and fetus, will fail to see that every embryo and fetus is a brother and sister in the Lord?"

"Yet the marvels revealed by the Annunciation do not stop there," Father Pavone continues. "There is also the mystery of Mary’s freedom, her ‘Fiat’ – ‘Let it be done to me according to your word’ (Lk. 1:38).

"This is freedom of choice which serves the truth, as opposed to ‘pro-choice’ which claims to create its own truth. This is choice at the service of life, rather than the perverted choice to take life. This is the moment when Mary gave her body to the One who would bring life to the world by saying ‘This is My Body,’ forever undoing the sin of those who justify abortion by saying, ‘This is my body!’

My office has a flier entitled "The Word Became Flesh" that contains fetal development pictures and Father Pavone’s reflections. Download it at www.nebcathcon.org ("printed resources") or contact my office.