This is the
third line of The Ecclesiastical Poems written by Wordsworth in the early
1820’s. Although not known as a very religious man, Wordsworth wrote several
religious poems in which he speaks of his emotion when looking at the world
around him, which reminded him of a hidden deity whose hand was upon everything
and who was behind the beauty and the life of our planet. He was, of course, a worshipper of nature; he
almost gives the impression in his poems of being pantheistic at times, but he
has a genuine respect for Mary as a woman to be admired for her faith and her
unique position as the one sinless creature in a world darkened by selfishness,
greed and idolatry.
In the
anticipation of the feast of the Annunciation on the 25th March, we
too reach out in love and in joy to her whose courageous “yes” brought Christ
to our world as one of us and, in doing that, opened the way to salvation, to hope
and to blessedness. When we remember that she was only a young teenager at the
time, we can only think of her great trust in God, and her courage in facing an
unknown future. As a young woman from a small, isolated village, she knew what
would happen to her when her neighbours realised that she was pregnant before
she married Joseph. She understood the pain of knowing that they could throw
her out of the village, or even have her stoned to death.
For Joseph,
it must have been a terrible time of shock and consternation. He would have to
make the decision to deal with the situation as the law allowed. He loved Mary and did not understand what had
happened. He must, at first, have thought
that she had been unfaithful to him. What else could he think?
We have the
benefit of hindsight, and we know what happened – the salutation of the angel,
the “yes” of Mary which changed human history for all time, the embrace of the
Holy Spirit which brought life to Mary’s youthful womb, the wonderful peace and
joy that filled her whole being as a tiny, pulsating embryo within her - the
God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob – took up its earthly existence. It was the “still
point of the turning world”, the moment when, for the first time, Heaven and
earth were joined together in the flesh of a young girl from Nazareth, that
most despised of villages. The time when the hearts of Jesus and Mary were
joined together in a union that was never to be broken. A time of reprieve for
us, of hope for every son and daughter of Eve, of freedom and saving grace for
the whole of humanity and of the vast reaches of the created world. Its
repercussions are still being felt, and will continue to do so for all time.
As you know,
March 25th is our special feast, celebrating as it does the birth of
God’s greatest gift to us – his Son. As
Mary brought Christ to our world, so we perpetuate the Incarnation event by
carrying Jesus spiritually to all those in need, all those who long for him,
yet still sit in darkness and in the shadow of death.
When we
celebrate this feast, let us remember those who are living lives of pain and
misery, those who don’t yet know Jesus or experience his great love, those who
are ignored and given no part in other people’s lives; those who are lonely,
bereaved or without hope. Jesus came to
our world to show us how much we are loved.
He came to give us dignity and worth, to make us feel good about being
human.
We can
celebrate too by remembering to respect the dignity of others, especially those
who are handicapped, old, vulnerable or poor. That way we can thank God and his
Mother in the best way possible, by showing how much we appreciate the gift of
the Incarnation.
Have a
lovely feast. We will remember you all in our prayers.
