Solemnity of the Annunciation March 25, 2026
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville
If a known and proven prophet came to you and offered to do any one miracle you wanted, what would you ask for? Healing? A spectacular vision of heaven? Some impossible thing like the sun dancing across the sky? We know God can and has done miracles like that, so what would you ask for?
When it’s hypothetical, I bet most of us could come up with something we’d ask for. In reality, however, many of us… perhaps most of us wouldn’t ask for anything. Why do I say that? Because we’re all stubborn. That, and because if God were to offer us that opportunity, it would come with a call to conversion and people don’t like to convert. We tend not to like change. We have an example of that in the first reading.
The prophet Isaiah, a well-known and proven prophet, is sent to king Ahaz of Judah by God to tell him to ask for a sign, a miracle. Isaiah even says “let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky,” meaning it can be as grand as he wants. And what does Ahaz say? “I will not ask!” Sure, he pretends it’s because he doesn’t want to tempt the Lord. He pretends it’s because he is pious and humble and content with what he already has. The truth, of course, is basically the opposite.
You see, the reason Ahaz gets this special offer is because God has asked him to do something incredibly difficult. So, God offers a sign to help him trust God in the difficulty. Ahaz’s city is under attack. He’s afraid he’s going to be conquered and kicked off of his throne. God wants Ahaz to trust him. Remember, this is the same God who split the red sea and on several occasions miraculously defeated massive armies. God definitely can win a battle for him if Ahaz trusts him.
But Ahaz? He’s got his own plan. For almost 200 years now, the kings of Judah have gotten in the habit of solving their problems through politics and alliances. Ahaz would rather trust his own ideas and stick to what he’s used to than consider the possibility that there’s a different way, that maybe there is a better way. When Isaiah offers him a blank check, permission to ask for any miraculous sign he could imagine, Ahaz refuses so that he doesn’t have to admit that his plan isn’t the right one. Isaiah responds, “O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God?”
Then Isaiah promises him a sign anyway, “the virgin shall be with child, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel, which means ‘God is with us!” But, because Ahaz goes ahead with is political solution, because he clings to his plans instead of listening to the prophet God sent him, this sign is no longer about his own safety. God does protect Jerusalem, but the alliance formed by Ahaz ends up causing all the rest of Israel to be conquered. It even costs Ahaz his power and even a lot of his money. And he missed out on a chance to ask for a miracle!
Of course, God knows how to make use of even our mistakes. The sign promised by Isaiah has at least two layers. The first layer is that Ahaz’s son turns out to be a pretty good king who helps the people recognize God’s presence again. The second layer is what we see in our gospel. Mary, a young woman married to Joseph of the house of David, is told she will have a son whose kingdom will never end. Unlike Ahaz, who refuses to trust and obey God, Mary does obey.
Mary was not planning on having kids, which is why even though she was legally already marriedto Joseph she was surprised at the promise of having a son. Normally, if you tell a newly married woman “you’re going to have a son,” she would assume you meant her husband was going to get her pregnant soon. But Mary’s answer shows us that was not her plan. She had always planned to remain a virgin dedicated to the Lord and Joseph was supposed to be a legal protector. She never intended to have children from Joseph or anyone.
But, when God’s messenger tells her that God has other plans, she does much better than Ahaz. Unlike the false piety of Ahaz – “I will not tempt the Lord” – Mary says “May it be done to me according to your word.” Both Ahaz and Mary suffer. Both of them lose something after their encounter with God’s messenger and command. But because Ahaz clings to his own way, he loses it and gains nothing. Because Mary cooperates with God’s plan, she transforms her loss into a sacrifice. Both Ahaz and Mary suffer – that’s unavoidable in this life. Ahaz suffers reluctantly, fights to cling to what he wants, and still loses it. Mary surrenders her will, endures her suffering with peace, and then gets something even better than what she wanted… something that takes the best part of her original desire and elevates it, adds to it, transforms it.
Remember the story of Abraham? He finally gets the son he wanted and then God asks him to sacrifice that son. But, because Abraham was willing to obey God and lose his son, Abraham actually gets to keep his son and gain a whole new covenant and holiness and so much more. So it is that, when Mary willingly accepts God’s command to sacrifice her plan to remain a virgin, she actually gets to stay a virgin dedicated to the Lord, but now she also gets to be a mother. God gave her what she wanted and more because she was willing to let go of her own desires.
And thank God she did! Ahaz’s refusal destroyed a country. Mary’s yes saved the world. We may not have whole nations affected by our yes or no, but it will affect others. Suffering is a part of life. If we meet that suffering with reluctance and refusal and stubborn attachment either to what used to be or what we think the future should be, then we’ll still lose control and suffer eventually anyway… and we’ll cause those around us to suffer in ways they might not have had to. If we meet that suffering with surrender to God’s will and a firm resolve to avoid sin, we will still suffer but will face it with greater peace. We’ll also bless others strengthening them in the trials they must face rather than adding to their burdens.