Solemnity of the Annunciation
Saint Martin’s Home; Little Sisters of the Poor
March 25, 2023
Fruitful Virginity
First, let me say what a joy it is to return to St. Martin’s Home. And “home” is indeed a fitting word to describe this place. For this is a home in a very real sense, a place where people are family, a place where people are known and loved. Perhaps after living together for a while, you get to know each other a bit more than you would want to! But isn’t that part of being a family?
Today, we celebrate the Annunciation, that most sacred moment when the Angel Gabriel appears to the Virgin Mary and announces to her the mission that the Lord has entrusted to her, that most marvelous work he had prepared for her from the moment of her conception and from the world’s foundation. She was to bring forth the Christ, the Son of God, from her virginal womb.
In this mystery, we see a pattern that will be echoed in the life of the Church. The Lord endows his people with grace. He calls them to a mission through which his love is made flesh in the world. He invites those he has chosen to share in his saving work.
In a particular way, he calls women to lives of virginity, to dedicate themselves entirely to Christ, to espouse themselves to him, and in so doing to “bear fruit that will last.” I offer my deepest gratitude to the Little Sisters of the Poor for their tireless care for all of you, who are their dear residents. Thank you, Sisters, not only for what you do, but for who you are. Thank you for your witness of a life that says “yes” to the Lord and the Church, a life that responds to the grace that God has poured into your hearts, a life consecrated to him, through which is love is made flesh in the world.
I would be remiss if I did not express our collective appreciation to one Sister in particular, and that is none other than Mother Lorraine. For many years, Mother has led the Province here in Baltimore, and in that role not only served her Sisters and the Residents but stood up as a strong voice for the cause of religious liberty, for the freedom to be able to serve as the Lord has called us to do. Mother Lorraine, for all that you have done and for all that you are, we thank you.
The Flesh is the Hinge of Salvation
The Feast of the Annunciation we celebrate today calls us to reflect on a central mystery of our faith, namely, the Incarnation. Many of you are familiar with the traditional practice of praying the Angelus, pausing three times a day to recall this turning point in salvation history when “the Word through whom all things were made,” when “the Word who was in the beginning with God and who was God,” “became flesh and dwelt among us.”
And why did God’s Son do this? So that what he took on might be redeemed. He came to share in our human nature that we might share in his divine nature. God can save the world however he chooses, but what method did he chose? He chose the flesh, our humanity, our flesh and blood. As one Ancient Christian writer put it: “The flesh is the hinge of salvation.” Obedient to his heavenly Father, Jesus chose to save us by taking on our flesh, and by offering himself upon the cross, suffering in his flesh. Thus, he turned “the cause of our downfall into the means of our salvation.”
As Christians, we firmly believe that God is not merely an idea or a concept, but he has come to dwell among us; he has taken flesh through the womb of the Virgin Mary. This feast calls us to remember the sacredness of being people of flesh and blood. Indeed, the human person is not merely a spiritual being, but a unity of body and soul. As we age, we perhaps become a bit more aware of our bodies, especially those little, or perhaps not so little, ache and pains, eyes and ears that might not work quite the way they used to do. Sometimes this can be a cause of discouragement. It’s tempting to think, oh if only I didn’t have these old bones slowing me down.
But today we recall this beautiful mystery of our faith: The Word became flesh and dwells among us, and the flesh is the hinge of salvation. It is not in spite of our bodily limits that God saves us and saves the world, but it is exactly through them that he carries out his saving work. We matter, every part of us matters, every part of us is sacred, not just our soul but also our body. And it is through our body, even in our weakness, that God is at work for the salvation of the world. Indeed, each of us has the capacity to offer with Jesus all our aches and pains, all our limitations and struggles, all our victories and all our endurance, for our salvation and that of the whole world.
Thank, you dear sisters, for witnessing to these truths, and thanks to all who work with you in serving the residents of this home. Thank you for reminding the world that the human person is sacred. Thank you for caring for the whole of the human person body and soul. Thank you for witnessing that love made flesh has come to make a dwelling place among us and for responding to this mystery by making this a dwelling place of Love.