For me, Advent is more than a time of preparation and anticipation of the birth of the baby Jesus. It is the beginning of a new liturgical year—an exciting time when we move from one Gospel’s focus on Jesus to another focus or emphasis.
As you may know, each of the gospels have a different emphasis—Mark is the gospel of the humanity of Jesus; Matthew of the mission of Jesus; Luke of social justice and John’s gospel is one of contemplation. My favorite is Luke’s gospel, in part, because it is only in Luke’s gospel that we find the annuncition (the angel Gabriel’s announcement that Mary would conceive the Son of God) and the visitation (Mary’s visit to Elizabeth.).
Other unique aspects of Luke’s gospel include:
-an emphasis placed on women
-the many parables found only in Luke
-Jesus seen often at prayer
-Finally, Luke’s Jesus is a man of mercy and compassion with a particular concern for the poor and outcast
Truly, we are beginning a very exciting year!! A year that is also very special because throughpout the Catholic world it is an Extraordinary Year of Mercy where the corporal and spiritual works of mercy will be highlighted throughout the year..
Today’s gospel is the second part of the Annunciation. It is the sign given to Mary in confirmation of the angel’s announcement to her – it is the pregnancy of her aged relative Elizabeth….If a woman past the childbearing age could become pregnant, why, the angel implies, should there be any doubt about Mary’s pregnacy, for nothing will be impossible for God.
I read this passage with a great sense of awe as I think back and reflect on the joy and surprise each time Janet told me she was pregnant. Each time there was a sense of mystery…and a time of waiting for God’s mystery to unfold.
In just five days we join Mary and Joseph as they journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem…to the birth of Jesus, our Savior. As with any pregnancy, there should be a great sense of joy and expectation…the gathering of family and friends to share in the excitement of the birth. And yet, we must remember Mary and Joseph were refugees with nowhere to stay, with no support, with no one to care for them. Not unlike so many thousands of refugees at this very moment—some about to give birth this day!
You know, everything we believe in—our whole faith–begins with the annunciation. I am not sure I can comprehend its significance. Without Mary’s “yes” there is no cross; there is no resurrection; no salvation; no discipleship; there is no hope. There is no mission; there is no Good News. Elizabeth puts it so well, “blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”
This narrative grows in meaning the more the life, death and resurrection of Jesus becomes a part of our faith experience. As Vatican II’s Constitution on the Church testifies “at the message of the angel, the Virgin Mary received the word of God in her heart and in her body, and gave life to the world.” “Gave life to the world” This is truly a day of surprise and joy.
One of the ironies of our faith is that artists throughout history have given us very unrealistic images of those who are importaqnt to our faith journey. We often see Mary in a beautiful gown sitting by a window as the angel Gabriel arrives. Mary could well have been, and probably was, in work clothes laboring over the stove, or in the garden or the barn. And, the artists’ renderings of the greeting of Elizabth and Mary are not of an older woman struggling with a difficult pregnacy or Mary worn out, tattered from her journey and deeply troubled by the news she had received. We need to remember that these were ordinary women. Both were anxious. Both were uncertain of their futures. And, both had faith—both trusted in God.
Knowing the story of Christmas, and knowing the rest of the story, do we trust in God as Mary and Elizabeth did? When we experience a crisis in our lives, when we are facing impossible odds, when things seem to be a mess, can we—will we—put our trust in God—the God of Abraham—the god of the Jews and Muslims as well ?
God is certainly worthy of our trust. He is faithful to his word. This trusting faith does not mean, however, we fully understand. We must make a “leap of faith.” But, this is not a blind, irrational jump of faith. Rather, we are called to surrender in loving trust to the God who cares for us and who is totally involved in our lives and in the history of mankind.
And yet, trusting in God, that “leap of faith” can often be very challenging sometimes hurtful, and often times beyond our comprehension. A few examples. Remember, Mary and Elizabeth are both pregnant. Vulnerable women….no hospitals, no doctor… a painful, difficult experience that in the end brings joy and hope. The same could be said for our Church. There can be painful experiences. I don’t know how many of you saw the movie “Spotlight” when it was showing in town a couple of weeks ago—the story of the Boston Globe’s reporting of child abuse within the Boston Archdiocese. I entered the theater anxious, anrgy, embarrassed, hurt–afterall this my Church AND it is a human church. I left the theater a little more trusting in God, a little more hopeful in our church hierarchy of which I am a part. That “leap of faith” has been greatly challenged for many of us and we all know people have left the church and lost their faith because of the tragedy of child abuse. It is difficult to “give life to the world” when carrying such a burden. But I trust in God.
Then again, there are those of us whose trust in God has given us the strength to face serious marriage issues –to seek the Church’s guidance and support through the annulment process—a process Pope Francis has with the beginning of the Extraordianry Year of Mercy streamlined and made more accessable. While the process is at times a painful, frsustrating experience there is at the end a great sense of joy and hope in God’s grace.
And so, we join Elizabeth and Mary in their joyful expectation – a son born to Elizabeth, John the Baptist and
the incarnation of God into the world entrusted to Mary. God is about to send his Son with the Good News of our salvation. It is God’s coming into world that gives us hope at all times. God’s embrace of the human condition as witnessed by the annunciation and in the birth of Jesus calls us to embrace our faith much more sacredly than we often experience during the Christmas season. We are invited to enjoy the reality of God’s unconditional love given to us. And, in that love our trust in God is greatly strengthend.
There are a thousand reasons why God might not love us or why we might have pushed our faith aside…. Yet, God’s ways are not our ways. His gift to us is his son—the child Jesus, that in Hebrew means “he will save” and he does just that at Easter and each and every day of our lives.
So, we pray for the grace of trust, that even in the face of great obstacles, that we can rely upon our loving God for whom nothing is impossible. In the hope of the Christmas Season, we offer up to our loving God all those things that seem impossible for us to deal with in our lives and ask God to assist us. We do so with the courage and trust Mary and Elizabeth experienced in their encounter.