March 25, exactly nine months before Christmas Day, marks the Feast of the Annunciation, on which the angel Gabriel’s appearance to the Blessed Virgin Mary is commemorated. The Gospel tells us that when Gabriel told Mary she had been chosen to bear the Son of God, she humbly accepted the weighty news. Then the Spirit came upon her, resulting in the conception of Jesus in her womb.

The Annunciation story, because it describes the very moment of Christ’s conception, was frequently depicted in medieval and Renaissance art to represent the Incarnation. In fact, it was not until St. Francis of Assisi’s devotion to the Christ Child became widespread that images of the Nativity replaced the Annunciation as the primary representation of the Incarnation of the Word.

At first, it may seem strange to be thinking during Lent about the events leading up to the birth of Christ, a time when we are more concerned about the events leading up to his suffering and death. It might feel a bit incongruent to be reminded of Christ’s coming into the world at a time when we are focused on the painful and bloody way in which he (seemingly) was ushered out of it.

On the other hand, it is quite important for us to remember that Jesus was not only the Son of God, but also a fully human man. It is easy to slip into thinking that Christ’s divinity somehow shielded him from the pain of crucifixion. But this is not so. His human flesh was brutally tortured. His suffering was excruciating. His cries of anguish were quite real. In remembering the Annunciation, which calls to mind the enfleshment of the Son of God in the womb of a human mother, we are no longer able to use Christ’s divinity to distance Jesus (or ourselves) from the horror of Good Friday. This, in turn, sharpens our awe at a love and an obedience so total and complete that Jesus willingly endured such an awful death.

It could also be that observing Christ’s conception during Lent provides another link between two seasons already connected in tone and intention. Advent and Lent are both times of penitence, when conscious efforts are made to confront one’s shortcomings and to strengthen one’s relationship with God. During these appropriately somber and solemn periods of reflection, however, there is also a sense of preparation and expectation, a joyful anticipation of what is to follow: the Christmas birth at the end of Advent and the Easter resurrection at the culmination of Lent. Jesus’ human conception and equally human death, then, can be thought of as parallel events, each shedding divine light on the other. In the same way, Jesus’ birth at Christmas and resurrection at Easter are parallel. After the penitential and preparatory seasons of Advent and Lent, Christ is born or reborn (resurrected) in the heart of every believer. At Christmas, Christ is miraculously born both in a manger and in our hearts. At Easter, the resurrected Christ appears in glory both in Jerusalem and in our souls.

This annual cycle of Christ’s birth and rebirth across space and time relates to what, perhaps, is the most important aspect of the Annunciation: the unfailing faithfulness of Mary. The angel Gabriel brought Mary news of a remarkable, scarcely believable decree by God concerning her future. God had decided that her expectation of a comfortable life with her betrothed was not what he wanted for her. Her life was to go another way, a way that many would have found fearful and frightening in its uncertainty. But not Mary. Mary humbly accepted God’s plan, putting her fears aside to follow in faith where the Lord had determined to lead her. Christ was conceived in her womb when she put God’s wishes ahead of her own, when her profound trust in God opened her deepest self, and her very body, to him.

This is what we remember in commemorating the Annunciation: God is conceived in our innermost being when our hopes, dreams, expectations, desires, aspirations and visions are made secondary to God’s plan for us. Just as Christ was conceived in Mary when she trusted in God’s gracious goodness, he is resurrected in our hearts every time we do the same. This is the event for which Lent prepares us. Mary’s example of humble and unshakable faith, the remembrance of which falls within the Lenten season, can be wonderfully helpful to us in that regard.

Maybe, then, it’s not so odd to have an “Advent story” pop up on the calendar during Lent after all.

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