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Views from the Choir Loft

Sin & Error Pining

Fr. David Friel · December 18, 2011

The Gospel for the Fourth Sunday of Advent this year tells the story of the Annunciation—the most astounding event in all of human history. And it is a dramatic story.

From the time of Adam & Eve to the time of Mary & Joseph, mankind had suffered under the burden of original sin. There had been no satisfactory remedy for it. Humanity had original sin, which is an infinite debt, but no way to pay it back, since all of us are finite beings. Jesus, being the Son of God from before all time, was infinite and therefore had the power to pay the debt. But He was a divine Person, not a human being. If only somehow Jesus, the infinite divine God, could become a man, there would finally be a way to rescue mankind from original sin.

So God devised this plan. He sent an angel, named Gabriel, to appear to a teenage girl, named Mary. The angel went on to tell Mary not to be afraid, for, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son.” (To say the young girl was surprised would be an understatement.) “How can this be?” she asked. After Gabriel explained the situation a bit further, Mary uttered the most fantastic response: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”

Right then, in that moment, the world was changed. Mary said, Fiat!, and all of a sudden, we were never the same. God asked Mary to give Him a human nature, and she said, “Yes, be it done unto me!” Jesus was conceived in the womb of the Blessed Virgin, and God truly became man. That’s what we mean when we pray in our new creed: “For us men and for our salvation, He came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.”

At last there was a divine Person with a human nature! He was divine so that He could pay an infinite debt. He was human so that He could pay it on our behalf—as “one of us.” The long, sad story of brokenness and sin that began with Adam & Eve had finally come to an end. “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, ‘til He appeared.”

The Annunciation was, without a doubt, the most astounding moment in all of human history. But it was not a singular event. That is, it wasn’t an unrepeatable event. Quite the contrary, in fact.

Every single day, God says to us, “Hail Susan,” “Hail Frank,” “Hail Theresa,” “Hail Stephen,” “Hail Joan,” “Hail David, full of grace!” He asks men & women the world over, “Will you give me a human nature? Just as Mary said, ‘Yes,’ and gave my Son, Jesus, a human nature, will you let Me have your human nature? May I use you, in your humanity, to make known the glory of My Name?”

Can you sense the drama? The “world in silent stillness waits” for us to respond, “Yes . . . be it done unto me!”

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    PDF • “For General Use Until Advent”
    If you conduct a volunteer choir, you might consider using this Simple Piece #40273 (“Adésto Sáncta Trínitas”) which can be used during the rest of the liturgical season until Advent. It's based on the well known hymn tune: OLD HUNDREDTH. Rehearsal videos are available at #40691. A live recording of #40273 (“Adésto Sáncta Trínitas”) by a volunteer choir is here (#40065).
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Introit • (This Coming Sunday)
    Our volunteer choir appreciates training videos, so here's my attempt at recording “Exáudi Dómine Vocem Meam,” which is the INTROIT for this coming Sunday. This coming Sunday is Dominica Post Ascensionem (“Sunday after the feast of the Ascension”). It is sung according to the official rhythm of the Catholic Church.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Volunteer Choir Attempts “Kýrie Eléison”
    My volunteer choir attempted the polyphonic KYRIE that will be sung at this year's Sacred Music Symposium. If you're interested, you can listen to the live recording from last Sunday. The piece is based on the ancient plainchant hymn melody: Ave Maris Stella. Polyphony like this is truly intricate and wonderful. It reminds me of the quote by Artur Schnabel: “music that's greater than it can be performed.”
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It is clear the Church is facing a grave crisis. Under the name of “the new Church” and “the post-conciliar Church,” a different Church from that of Jesus Christ is now trying to establish itself: an anthropocentric society threatened with imminent apostasy which is allowing itself to be swept along in a movement of general abdication under the pretext of renewal, ecumenicism, or adaptation.

— Cardinal Henri de Lubac (29 August 1967)

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