Our Gospel today was “the Annunciation”, the same Gospel we used for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Very often, you will see Annunciation in a painting or stained glass window, and it’s depicted with one striking detail: Mary, holding in her hands or reading an open book. One artist has said this is to show Mary reading Isaiah, learning that a virgin would give birth to the savior. Another artist said that it shows her devotion to The Word – the Word that she would one day bring into the world as Jesus Christ.

However you interpret this, it remains a compelling way of thinking of Mary, especially as we near Christmas, and as we think more deeply about The Word Made Flesh. And as we reflect on today’s Gospel, I want to focus on one word in particular that recurs in this passage. It’s a word Luke uses again and again in the story of the Nativity, three times alone in just this short passage. That word is: “Behold.” In literal terms, it means: “to see,” or “observe.” But in scriptural terms, it goes much deeper. Read More