Mass readings: http://usccb.org/bible/readings/122114.cfm
There’s
an old saying, and you’ve probably heard it before, first published by a man
named William Shedd, and the saying goes like this:
“a
ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.”
Mary
was looking forward to a nice, safe, life.
Probably a poor peasant girl, she was betrothed, promised to marry, a
good man with a steady job, Joseph. A man who would provide well for her and
any children they would have, care for them, protect them. Yes, her parents had chosen well for her, and
Mary had to be quite happy and content with the life that lay ahead of her.
But
the Lord God had other plans for her.
Sent His angel to her with a different kind of proposal, an offer to, so
to speak, leave her nice safe harbor and set out on the high seas. To announce to her God her Father’s plan –
that she was to become the mother of the Son of God, the promised Savior, the
most high, the King of Israel like His forefather David, indeed to be
recognized as the King of the universe!
To become the Mother of God Himself!
I
sometimes wonder what Our Lady might have said to the angel if she could have
foreseen, then and there, what her life would be like. If she could have
set aside her obvious shock at this outrageous proposal from the angel and if
she could have had a clear vision of what lay ahead. Her assent, after all, her “yes”, her “fiat”
to the angel and the Lord God would mean both incredible joys and incredible
suffering lay in store for her.
It
would mean incredible joys – the visit to Elizabeth, the birth of the Babe in
the stable, presenting Him at the temple, finding Him in the temple.
It
would mean fear – the night flight to Egypt.
And
sadness – hearing of the slaughter of the innocents.
And incredible sufferings – watching her Son rejected by the holy and powerful,
arrested, tortured, condemned and killed by the Romans. Any mother will
tell you the pain a mother feels when her child is suffering is worse than
bearing the pain herself!
But
she would know incredible glory, too – oh if she could foresee His glorious
resurrection and ascension! Or her own assumption and coronation as Queen
of Heaven!
But
even if she could have foreseen everything, the good and the bad, the rough and
stormy seas of her life, I dare say her answer would have been the same, for
she exhibited the three virtues, three important lessons you and I can learn
from this woman, from this Gospel. These
three things say something important about her.
And something important about God.
And those three things are trust, openness, and obedience.
First
of all, trust. Mary was a person of
great faith. She had learned the
scripture accounts; in fact in paintings of this Gospel scene of the
Annunciation, Mary is usually seen reading holy scripture when visited by the
angel. So she knew that the God who had
liberated her people from slavery in Egypt is a faithful God, who can be
trusted to keep His word. She knew from
the prophets that time and time again, even when the people turned away, God
was faithful and continued to love His people. Worthy of trust and faith. And she knew from the prophets that God would
keep his promise to send a savior to His people. So she trusted in the Lord, her rock, her
stronghold.
And
she was open, open to the will of God. Mary
exhibits a radical openness which above all, requires humility. An attitude that says “You are God and I am
not.” That says “you created me for a
purpose.” An openness which lets God mold and fashion us, like soft, wet clay
in God’s fingers. Openness even to a
lifelong change of plans, to a request to pull up anchor and head out into deep
waters.
And
finally, obedience. “Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
Powerful, beautiful words. This is the
obedience of faith of which St. Paul writes in today’s passage from his letter
to the Romans. It is a surrender,
to God’s will, an assent to God’s plan for her, as different as that was from
any plan of hers, or of her betrothed, or of her parents.
My
brothers and sisters, those are three qualities – trust, openness and surrender
– as well as the virtue of humility which underlies all three – which we find
sorely lacking in today’s world. We live
in a world basically guided by the immortal words of Frank Sinatra – “I did it my way.”
A me-centered world - what’s in it for me? What can I get out of this? A
world more and more with the attitude “I don’t need anybody telling me what to
do.”
The
example we ponder today of Mary and her fiat, her “yes” by which the world has
come to know its Savior, is counter-cultural – for her example stands in stark
relief against our self-centered, “my-way” world.
You
and I, sisters and brothers, are being called this day, in these last few days
of Advent, to ponder this Gospel anew and reflect on the profound example given
to us of this humble, holy woman. How can you and I pursue the same virtues of
trust in God, openness to His call and obedient surrender to His word?
And
ponder for the last few days of this holy season of advent and the joyous feast
of Christmas, how you and I will let this humble little child, God made flesh, soon
to be born of this holy humble woman, how will we let Him change our lives? No matter our age, no matter our station in
life, He is calling you and me to something new, something greater, to a deeper
commitment to serve Him and His people as His humble handmaid.
How
will we answer His call? Will we trust in Him who has done so much for us, who
has done everything for us? Will we be
open to hear His call? Will we joyfully surrender to His will in humble
obedience?
Will
you and I, by our “yesses” to Him, let Him change our little corner of the
world?
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