Encyclical from Metropolitan Gerasimos for theFeast of the Annunciation 2018

 "He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; 
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 
and he willreign over the House of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there will no end."
Luke 1:32-33

Dearly Beloved,
 
On March 25 we celebrate the event that inaugurates our salvation. The Virgin Mary learns from the Archangel that she will give birth to a son, one that will deliver us from the bondage of sin and death.
 
This year, because this Great Feast of our Church occurs on a Sunday during Great Lent, we briefly interrupt our Lenten rhythm to commemorate the "crown of our salvation." The meaning of the Annunciation should not be lost on us even as we pause from our Lenten disposition because in two weeks, we will celebrate the saving event of Christ's Passion and Resurrection. This blessed connection of the calendar should remind us that the Incarnation and the Passion are connected. For Christ came into the world "to give his life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45) by giving Himself up to the Cross "for the life of the world."
 
The Good News of the Annunciation was a message of hope to the oppressed people of Israel. God's promise of a Messiah, the one who would restore Israel, was soon to be fulfilled. Mary sings joyfully in her Magnificat, "He has put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of low degree" (Luke 1:52). This hopeful song was familiar to the Greek people who suffered under an oppressor for four hundred years. They too sought to be delivered. They heard the words of Mary in the Feast of the Annunciation year after year. And so, appropriately, the Feast of the Annunciation became the day when they initiated their hopeful quest for freedom.
 
Their quest also included songs of hope and liberation. We will hear our children sing many of these songs in the programs celebrating March 25 in our parishes. And of them all the song of freedom that all of us will sing will be "To the Champion" (Ti Ipermacho) to the Virgin Mary, "the defender and commander." This triumphant and rousing hymn continues to be our anthem, as we place our hope for a better future in the hands of God.
 
We live at a time where a message of hope is needed. The daily stories from near and far leave many of us shaking our heads at the state of our world. The Gospel message is the hope we need today. The Good News of Jesus Christ the Savior, whose birth was announced to Mary on March 25 and the coming day of His Resurrection, offers that hope to the world and to each of us. When we celebrate the Annunciation this year, we celebrate the joy that Mary experienced when she received the glad tidings from Gabriel that the Savior of God's people was conceived in her. And so, with Archangel Gabriel, we cry out "Rejoice, O Bride unwedded!"

Wishing to all those that are named after this glorious Feast all the blessings from God, I remain
 
With Love in Christ,
 @ G E R A S I M O S
 Metropolitan Gerasimos of San Francisco

 Read the Encyclical online