A Word from our Priest-In-Charge

Bless God who forgives all our sins,

‘Greetings highly favored one! The Lord is with you.’ 

This statement is from Luke 1:26-38, from the Complete Gospels translation, might be a bit odd to hear in Lent. As it is the statement the Angel Gabriel says to Mary that we hear during Advent and Christmas signaling the Annunciation and Nativity. However, the Councils of the Church (particularly two Councils – Council of Toledo 656 and Council of Constantinople 692) named March 25 the Feast Day of the Annunciation, by simply doing the math, as it is 9 months to December 25, the Nativity. 

The Feast of the Annunciation is the day where Mary, with some fear and trembling, says yes to bear the Son of God. This Feast Day is chalk full of rich theological bearings on what becomes much of our tenets of faith, particularly within our Trinitarian framework of living the faith. However, I want to take this occasion with this Feast Day on our immediate horizon to go in another direction. I want to examine the power of greetings in our lives. Let’s explore this. 

There are many resources and models, not just Church related, that discuss the power of greeting and welcoming people. Think Walmart for example with their ‘greeters’ or the classic TV series Cheers where in the opening song we hear:

Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name,
And they're always glad you came;
You want to be where you can see,
Our troubles are all the same;
You want to be where everybody knows your name.



Welcoming and greetings are powerful. 

Gabriel, the angel or ‘heavenly messenger’ if you prefer, greets Mary with such power as well. And what a greeting it is: ‘Greetings highly favored one! The Lord is with you.’ Imagine for a moment what that might feel like if you stepped into a Church and this is what you heard. What an honor indeed! Even without knowing your name there is power in this greeting. So maybe we need to consider doing this more often in our lives, yes in the Church for sure, but also as we minister in the world. 

I invite you to take some time during this Lenten Fast to hold this greeting in your mind. In many ways this type of greeting, even when performed only internally, in our minds, highlights our call to fulfill the Summary of the Law: 

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and the great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. (BCP, Catechism, pg. 851)

Take the greeting of Gabriel with you as you minister in the world. It both recognizes that those whom you encounter: stranger, friend, neighbor, partner, spouse, brother, sister, are ‘highly favored’ in the Presence of God. A simple and challenging practice indeed, yet a practice we should strive for daily. 

‘Greetings highly favored one! The Lord is with you!’

Peace