Down through the centuries, artists, writers, painters and theologians repeatedly have tried to show, to paint, to explain … what it was like when the Virgin Mary was suddenly face-to-face with the angel Gabriel who was carrying a message to deliver that young Mary could only imagine:
“You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.”
To me, this painting of the Annunciation by Nigerian artist, Paul Woelfel, is quite captivating. My friend Carolyn Butler, living in Cape Town, South Africa, features Woelfel’s painting in a collection of Advent devotions. (Under African Skies — Reflection for Advent and Christmas).
Take a close look at Woelfel’s rendition on the Annunciation. As Carolyn says, “Even though Mary points to herself with something of a “Who, me?” gesture, the other hand is already raised in acceptance as she prepares to take the message proffered to her on a forked stick by the kneeling angel, who has removed his own sandals in her presence.”
Wouldn’t this be a good sermon title for an Advent sermon? “Who, me?”
donfollis.com 