Fiat and the Cross: The Annunciation in the Shadow of the Passion
MASS Vultum tuum
LESSON Isaias 7: 10-15
GOSPEL St Luke 1: 26-28
PROPER LAST GOSPEL St. John 10: 22-38
HOMILIST Mt Revd Jerome Lloyd OSJV
Beloved in Christ,
Today the Church does something astonishing.
In the midst of Passiontide—when the Cross is veiled, when the liturgy is stripped, when the air itself seems heavy with approaching sacrifice—she suddenly breaks forth into light. She dares to sing of a Virgin. She dares to speak of joy. She dares to proclaim a beginning—precisely when we are contemplating the end.
For this day is not merely a feast. It is the beginning of everything.
“The Word was made flesh.”
Not in Bethlehem. Not upon Calvary. But here—now—at Nazareth, in silence, in hiddenness, in the womb of a Virgin.
And the Church, in her ancient wisdom, places this mystery deliberately within the shadow of the Passion. Because the two are not separate.
They are one.
The wood of the manger is already the wood of the Cross.
The Body formed in Mary’s womb is already the Body to be offered.
The Fiat of the Virgin is already the echo of the Fiat of the Son: “Not My will, but Thine be done.”
The Annunciation is the first moment of the Passion.
Consider it well.
When the Angel speaks—“Ave, gratia plena”—Heaven holds its breath. All creation waits. The destiny of mankind hangs, not upon force, not upon power, but upon the free consent of a young Virgin.
And she answers. “Ecce ancilla Domini: fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum.”
“Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done unto me.”
In that moment, the eternal Word takes flesh. In that moment, Christ becomes Priest.
For as the ancient tradition teaches—and as this feast proclaims—March 25th is the day of His priestly anointing. Not in the Temple made by hands, but in the living sanctuary of Mary’s womb. Not with oil, but with the divinity itself. The humanity assumed is consecrated—set apart—destined for sacrifice.
He is conceived… in order to be offered.
And therefore, we cannot understand the Annunciation without the Cross. Nor can we understand the Cross without the Annunciation. Carissimi, this is why the commemoration of today’s Lenten feria is not accidental—it is providential.
For what do we hear in that feria?
The law of charity in Leviticus: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. I am the Lord.”
And what do we see in the Gospel? Men who take up stones against God Himself.
Here is the terrible paradox:
God commands love—and man responds with violence.
God reveals Himself—and man rejects Him.
God becomes man—and man prepares to kill Him.
And yet—between these two realities—stands Mary.
She is the answer to the failure of Israel.
She is the answer to the rebellion of mankind.
She is the one creature in whom the divine command finds perfect fulfilment.
Where Eve said no, Mary says yes.
Where pride resists, humility consents.
Where man seizes, she receives.
And because she receives—God gives.
This is why the Church calls her Theotokos—Mother of God. Not as a mere title of honour, but as a dogma of salvation. For if He whom she bears is not God, then we are not redeemed. But if He is God—true God from true God—then her womb has become the bridge between Heaven and earth.
And more than this.
She does not merely give Him flesh—she gives Him to us.
The Body formed in her is the Body offered for us.
The Blood drawn from her is the Blood shed for us.
The Heart that begins to beat beneath her Immaculate Heart is the Heart that will be pierced for our salvation.
Do you see?
The Annunciation is already Eucharistic.
The Incarnation is already sacrificial.
The joy of Nazareth already contains the sorrow of Calvary.
And yet—it is all joy.
Because it is all love.
Carissimi, there is a temptation in our age—a subtle and dangerous one—to separate these mysteries. To have Christmas without the Cross. To have devotion without sacrifice. To have religion without surrender.
But the Virgin will not allow it.
Her Fiat is total. It is irrevocable. It is costly.
She consents not only to bear the Child—but to lose Him.
Not only to cradle Him—but to stand beneath Him as He hangs upon the Cross.
Not only to rejoice—but to suffer.
And this is why she is powerful.
Because she is obedient.
Because she is empty of self.
Because she belongs entirely to God.
And here, finally, the homily must turn—inevitably—to us.
For the Annunciation is not merely something that happened. It is something that must happen—in us. The Fathers speak of the soul as a place where the Word desires to be conceived. But how is this done?
By the same means.
By grace.
By faith.
By surrender.
God speaks.
We respond.
But here is the question: Do we respond like Mary?
Or do we respond like the men of the Gospel—demanding, resisting, hardening?
Do we say: “Fiat”?
Or do we say: “Explain Thyself first”?
Do we receive the Word?
Or do we take up stones against Him—in our pride, in our sin, in our refusal to change?
Carissimi, the difference between salvation and condemnation is contained in a single word:
Fiat.
One word opened Heaven.
One word began the Redemption.
One word brought God into the world.
And one word—spoken by you, by me—can allow Him to reign within our souls.
As we approach the Passion, let us go to Mary.
Let us ask her—not merely for comfort—but for courage.
Not merely for consolation—but for conformity.
That we may learn from her how to receive Christ… how to carry Him… and, if necessary, how to suffer with Him.
So that the mystery begun today in Nazareth may be brought to completion in us—through the Cross—unto the glory of the Resurrection.
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