Live the Life.

So let's talk about what it is to live your life with an open heart; open to the wonders of the world, and open to God's promise.

This Sunday's readings offer us a veritable grab-bag of Christian ideals: reverence, justice, faith despite persecution, quiet willingness to listen to the will of God. We see the Beatitudes in action, from Abraham's faithfulness to Paul's faithfulness to Mary and Martha's very different faithfulness.

In the Gospel this coming Sunday, we see the busy hospitality of Martha, something like the Biblical precursor to Martha Stewart, and the assiduous attention of her sister Mary. Which brings to mind a different Mary, who also lived the Beatitudes before they were ever uttered by her Son.

Take a look at Botticelli's Annunciation:

The Annunciation by Sandro Botticelli, 1489-1490

I love this painting... Here we see the grace of Mary, imbued with the Grace of God, as she receives news of His will. We see a world of order, clearly and strictly delineated by the directional lines on the floor, the severe window casement, the details of the scene beyond. The figures contradict all this linearity. Gabriel has literally just alighted- the diaphanous cloth that was Botticelli's specialty is still in motion behind him. As his momentum is absorbed by the floor, he reaches up to Mary, in greeting, holding the Annunciation Lily, a common symbol of Marian Purity. The line of his outstretched hand continues up the arm of Mary, the gaze of the angel and the direction of these visual lines drawing the eye to the face of Mary. She recoils slightly, leaning back in wonder with a graceful sway of the hips. Her head is bowed in reverence, in prayer, in meekness. She stands beside an open book, meant to remind us that this moment has been prophesied in the Hebrew Scriptures, and she is garbed in red and blue, remnants of the Byzantine Icon world that hint at her connection to both the mysteries of Heaven, and the vitality of Humanity.

What strikes me most about this image is the two hands, untouching, but reaching toward each other. This painting was completed a few years before Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel, and, in fact, Botticelli had also done some work on Pope Sixtus's amazing chapel in 1481. Whether or not Michelangelo had seen Botticelli's Annunciation before leaving for Rome in 1496 is doubtful - The Annunciation was painted for the Florentine convent of Cestello.

The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo, Sistine Chapel, completed between 1508 and 1512.

But just as, in the ceiling fresco, God reaches out a benevolent hand to lend life to Adam, Botticelli paints another moment which captures God's promise to renew the world; His heavenly messenger reaching out a hand toward The New Eve, the woman who will bring life to the Body that will bring Life to the world.

Something to think about this Sunday when you listen to the readings: How do you accept and perform the will of God in your life? Like Abraham, excited and eager? Like David, writing the Psalms, determined to rule with Justice? Like Paul, resolute and inspired? Like Martha, distracted yet determined, or her sister Mary, quiet and full of awe? Or like Mother Mary, with absolute Grace?