The Annunciation: a Marian Feast for Catholics and Protestants

Today, March 25, the Catholic Church across the world celebrates the Solemnity of the Annunciation--commemorating the time when the Archangel Gabriel appeared to the Blessed Virgin Mary to announce to her that she would bear the Son of God to the world. As she gave her simple fiat, all of history, all of creation was altered forever.

While there still exists much uneasiness and division between Catholics and Protestants over views of Mary, the Annunciation is a celebration with a deeply Marian character that offers a place for conciliation between people of both Catholic and Protestant traditions. This is true for at least a few reasons:

1. The event it celebrates is explicitly biblical. Although Catholics would argue that other Marian feasts--such as the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption--are built on strong biblical foundations, Protestants are often suspicious, because the events these other feasts commemorate are not explicitly found in Scripture. Not so with the Annunciation--it is right there in Luke 1:26ff.

2. The focus is clearly Jesus. Again, Protestants tend to be reluctant to embrace some Catholic views on Mary because they seemingly detract from the focus on Jesus. (Perhaps the quintessential example of this would be the Catholic view of Mary as "Co-Redemptrix.") The Catholic Church clearly states that she believes what she does about Mary because of what she believes about Jesus (Catechism, #487), and this is clearly evident in the Annunciation--while Mary plays a central role, the focus of the narrative is the Incarnation of Jesus.

3. Mary plays a central role. While the focus of the Annunciation is the Incarnation of Jesus, it is also clear that Mary plays an indispensable role in the whole event. Catholics need not fear that Mary is a "throw-away" character or a random choice. Mary is clearly graced by God. She is "blessed among women." Her fiat is freely given. It is her blood that runs in Jesus' veins, her DNA in his cells.

4. Incarnation is key. While doctrinal differences between Catholics and Protestants abound, both see the Incarnation of God as the profoundly central teaching / mystery of the Christian faith. The Annunciation is the great feast of the Incarnation--the Word-made-flesh. Moreover, since nearly all Protestants celebrate the birth of Jesus, surely there can't be much opposition to commemorating his conception.

While Catholics might be hesitant to sit down at a feast in honor of Reformation Day (October 31) and Protestants might shy away from toasting the Blessed Virgin on the Assumption (August 15), it stands to reason that we can come together in prayer and celebration on this holy day.

Denominational Relativism: the DR is in!

I was recounting to a friend of mine just last night how some Protestant friends, on hearing of my conversion to Catholicism, responded with something akin to, "Well, just as long as you're still a Christian/following Jesus..." Evidently, according to this point of view, the particular denomination (even if my "denomination" of my choosing unabashedly claims to be the "One True Church") one is part of is of little, perhaps no significance, in comparison with a life of faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

While small parts of such sentiments may be commendable, I have an overall distaste to what I now call "Denominational Relativism," (DR) wherein one's membership in denomination x and denomination y is mostly a matter of personal taste for liturgy (or lack thereof), musical styles, etc., and of little to no importance in general. To be perfectly honest, I can remember explicitly touting DR when I was tinkering around with ordination in the PC/USA. My own views have changed significantly! Briefly, here are two of my primary objections to DR...you will note they are very much interrelated.

1. Denominational Relativism follows the modernistic impulse of dissociating the individual from his/her historical, social, and cultural context. In the Christian realm, this is especially tragic. Once one begins denying adherence to any particular tradition or denomination, one inherently convinces oneself that he/she has achieved the impossible: I have come to understand Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, and Christian faith on my own. In reality, none of us is capable of stepping entirely outside of our own context. Yes, as humans we have a unique ability to look at our context and both laud and critique, but even such activity is always from within that context.

This means that even the instinct to adhere to DR is itself born of a specific historical, social, cultural (and theological) context. Anecdotally, when I asked a former colleague of mine, who was training for priestly ministry in the Church of England, what would happen if the Anglican church went away, he basically responded, "I don't think it would make any difference." I guarantee you that response is born out of a particular context! (And not a traditionally Anglican one!)

2. Denominational Relativism exalts the individual over and above the community--in the case of Christians, the Church. This point is simultaneously more subtle and more destructive than the previous one. The more Christians begin to believe that their personal relationship with God stands outside of, even supersedes, that of the Church (however expressed through a specific denominational tradition), the weaker the Church becomes. The Mystical Body of Christ becomes relegated to the spiritual, the invisible, the otherworldly, and has less and less to offer to the lost, the suffering, the dying. Moreover, it easily succumbs to the fact/value split, placing faith squarely in the "value" sphere, and dissociating it from the public realm. Salvation becomes all about what happens to us after we die. Faith becomes "[hell-] fire insurance." Jesus becomes more "my personal Savior" and "my best friend" (which he is, to be sure) than "King of kings and Lord of lords," "Almighty God," "Prince of peace," "the Alpha and the Omega" (which he also is).

So what? I have many Catholic and Protestant friends who adhere--not uncritically--to their particular denominational tradition. I find that ecumenical dialogues with these friends is abundantly more fruitful, to a large extent because it quickly becomes clear where we agree and where the major points of disagreement are, and we are able to focus our discussions there. But I am intimately aware of the "non-denom phenom," i.e. the "in-ness" of not being burdened with denominational structures and hierarchy, and the tantalizing offer of not needing to learn and discover the scads of historical tradition that goes into the making of denominations, even "non-denoms." My appeal to those falling in this latter category would be: explore the tradition you inhabit, so that Christ-followers everywhere may continue the arduous work of Christian unity.

Ignoring denominational differences under the guise of the supposed primacy of faith in Christ is like ignoring the mold growing on your basement walls: little by little, it will erode the foundation of the house in which you live. On the other hand, becoming informed about one's particular denominational tradition, then dialoguing with those outside of said tradition, contributes to the building up of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church.