Feast of the Annunciation

LOVING this. Paula Jackson adds the immediate below to Katie Sherrod's POWERFUL post (snip follows and full text below below): 

</The phrase from the Greek, "Let it be me as you have said." There is no preposition in the Greek. "Me" is in the dative case. Considering that prepositions were available and none were chosen here, the possibilities are left open for our imaginations. "Let the revolution begin / the world be changed through me, because of me, by me, on account of me, with me; let the world-shaking event happen through me. Count me in.></What today should celebrate is Mary's "yes." This should be the Feast of Mary's Courageous Yes, or the Feast of the Agreement. Because, according to the story, the angel DID wait for her reply. It is only after she responds, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word,” that the angel departs. Only with her "yes" could the Incarnation happen. / Mary was no wimpy passive vessel. I mean, look at the Magnificat -- the Song of Mary. Among other things, she says, "God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; God has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; God has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich God has sent away empty." That's pretty stout stuff.>

<FB friends who aren't Christians, just skip this post. It's me venting about a pet liturgical peeve. Today is the Feast of the Annunciation, celebrating the visit of the Angel Gabriel to Mary of Nazareth. Now, I've always thought the name of this feast day is about as outrageous a name as a patriarchal church can come up with. So God sends an angel to announce to a teen aged girl that God is going to impregnate her. Pretty wild, huh? In this version, God sends a messenger to tell her God is going to rape her. God doesn't even bother to break the news in person, although I guess sending an angel beats sending the news by text.
Because without Mary's agreement, that's what this is - rape. You can pretty this up -- and God knows we have with some gorgeous paintings, frescoes, tapestries, etc -- but if you leave the story like that, it's not pretty. What today should celebrate is Mary's "yes." This should be the Feast of Mary's Courageous Yes, or the Feast of the Agreement. Because, according to the story, the angel DID wait for her reply. It is only after she responds,“Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word,” that the angel departs. Only with her "yes" could the Incarnation happen. Only with her "yes" could God enter the world and become human. Mary was no wimpy passive vessel. I mean, look at the Magnificat -- the Song of Mary. Among other things, she says, "God has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts; God has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate; God has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich God has sent away empty." That's pretty stout stuff. So let's stop selling Mary short. Heck, let's stop selling God short. Let's celebrate the "yes' of the woman who changed the world.>