Celebrating the Annunciation and Incarnation

The  Beauty  of  Truth

 

Is it reasonably to think that this Solemnity will be moved to a Sunday ?

We can know some things by faith and other things by reason.   And I propose that it is by logical deduction, that is by reason, that we can see that the Church will most likely move this solemnity to a Sunday.  If the Church does indeed do this, that would prove that it was God's idea all along.  If not, then it would prove that this small portion of this web article was only my idea.  (In which case, I would perhaps spend an extra year in purgatory saying "mea culpa."  However, the logic in the reasoning is so strong, I would probably deserve and extra ten years in purgatory if I did not advance the truth of this case, assuming that it will be eventually approved.   :)   )

There are two lines of thought that will lead us to that conclusion.  One is very conclusive, but also a little longer.  So, I will give it last.

First line of reasoning:

The Annunciation-Incarnation is the cornerstone to our faith.  Read more about this Solemnity's Importance.  It deserves to be restored to a greater prominence in the Liturgy so that it can be celebrated and contemplated more devoutly by the general laity, that is, by the whole church.  It used to be a holy day of obligation for the universal church before the French Revolution.  However, if it were restored to a holy day of obligation, most of the laity would probably still not attend since they miss celebrating many of those feasts already.  So, that doesn't work.  The only practical way to get everyone to tap into the awesome power of this beautiful mystery of our faith is to move it to a Sunday.

Second line of reasoning:

As a whole the Catholic Church is not doing that well in opposing abortion.  Although most everyone realizes that abortion is an ugly thing and most will say they oppose it to some degree, and yet many Catholics will still vote to keep it legalized (for when they "really need" it.)

Just examine the voting record of Catholics.  And many Catholics who are not living a celibate lifestyle support the services of Planned Parenthood and they are not open to the creation of new life.

And unfortunately, many Catholic girls get abortions.  Catholics, men and women, are deceived by our society.  They buy into the lie that their child is "just a blob of tissue"  who has no rights.

And so, it is of paramount importance that the Church oppose that lie and inoculate, if it where, our children from that horrendous lie with the truth of Christ.  It might prove too difficult to convert many of the middle aged pro-abortion "Catholics,"  but it is not too late to reach out to the very young.  It is not just a matter of announcing and preaching an intellectual concept.  The truth must be communicated in a way that it is embraced in the depth of our being so that we can truly die to ourselves and our concupiscence (disordered sexual desires) so that we might celebrate and live our life in Christ.  The most powerful way of teaching is not by simple direction or instruction.  Rather, it is by establishing a culture that is based on truth and presupposes it.

The Catholics who favor keeping abortion legalized in at least some instances - a very high percentage of Catholics - have a very fuzzy notion about when human life really begins.  Their justification for accepting abortion is the acceptance that maybe society is right, and maybe the unborn child is really just a  "blob of tissue."

The Annunciation and Incarnation is the only feast that really offers us a concrete way of answering this question and showing that human life begins at conception (fertilization).  Focusing on this Solemnity by moving it to a Sunday is not only a good move, but it is the ONLY winning move to refute this lie.  Therefore, it is quite reasonable to conclude that the Church will make this move.

Where is the certainty?

Consider a chess match by two grandmasters.  These games are rarely played out to the end.  One of them will invariably resign half way into the game.  Why?  Because the ending is certain.  After a series of moves one player catches on and sees how the previous peculiar moves of his opponent has led him into a trap.   His opponent, a grandmaster, will not just make a good move.  He is going to make what they now both see is the best move. Checkmate is a certainty.  So, he resigns.  The Holy Spirit will lead the Church into making not just a good move, but the best move.  They question is timing.  So, if the reasoning above is true, then the Church shall do it.  It is just a question of when.