Sunday of the Announcement to Zechariah
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
“Today we celebrate the feast of the Announcement to Zechariah, when Gabriel was sent to bring the good news to him, as he was offering incense.” – Prayer of Forgiveness
The Maronite Church in her Divine Liturgy, uses an abundance of incense. This precious sacramental was inherited from the liturgy of the Temple in Jerusalem. With the destruction of the Temple, and the end of animal sacrifice in 70 A.D. the first Christians enthusiastically adopted the offering of incense in their Liturgy. Incense for the Hebrews was a prophecy of the bloodless sacrifice of the Mass (Mal 1:11) and the heavenly liturgy (Rev 5:8) and the coming Messiah (Sirach 50:5–9) who would be like the “morning star shining through the clouds, like the full moon, like the sun shining on the Temple of the Most High, like the rainbow gleaming in glory against the clouds, like roses in spring time, like lilies beside a stream, like the cedars of Lebanon in summer, like burning incense (…).”
The early Christians were particularly sensitive to the use of incense. The accounts of the martyrs show their heroic refusal to offer incense in false worship to the idols of Rome. These Christian martyrs prove the early Church’s belief in the sacramental of incense.
In our own day, false gods, and idols are present everywhere. We must be alert and committed just as the first Christians. How easy it is to simply offer incense by going along with the crowd, taking part in gossip, or giving into the climate of sensuality and materialism. We must be radical in our commitment to the true and living God.
Each of us is a grain of incense. Apart from Christ, we are just a grain of sand, but when we are placed on the Living Coal which is Christ, we fill the earth with the odour of peace and freedom.
Prayer
Lord Jesus, as we prepare to celebrate your birth, answer our prayers as you did for Zechariah in the hour of incense. May our prayers ascend to you like incense in your sight. (Psalm 141)
+Selim Sfeir
Maronite Archbishop of Cyprus