This Advent, allow “Sneaky Jesus” to bestow his grace upon us.
Today we celebrate the third week in Advent. Each week we are presented with a particular theme to meditate upon. The first week is hope, last week was peace, this week is joy, and next week will be love.
We will find joy as we conform our life to the Jesus we remember and the Jesus who we encounter each day. We also find joy when we are transformed from a posture of turning in on our self, only looking within at our own needs, and look out to be aware of the needs of others and then move to be of help to them.
We see John leading the crowds to this place of joy today. They come to him to participate in a baptism of repentance, a changing of their heart and mind, but John also leads them deeper and outward. Not only is their heart and mind to be changed but their actions as well.
Those who have two cloaks are to share the second with one who has none and the tax collectors are to stop collecting more than what they are prescribed. Even the soldiers have come to John and he guides them: “Do not practice extortion, do not falsely accuse anyone, and be satisfied with your wages” (cf. Lk 3:10-14).
What John is presenting to the crowds is what we call today, solidarity. Pope Francis echoes John in his writings and talks. In his exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis writes: “Each individual Christian and every community is called to be an instrument of God for the liberation and promotion of the poor, and for enabling them to be fully a part of society. This demands that we be docile and attentive to the cry of the poor and come to their aid.”
We must be willing to hear and see those who are in need around us. We must be willing, as was Moses, to follow the lead of God who hears the cry of the poor and will move us to serve in our own unique way.
We have so many models of individuals today in 2018 doing what Moses did. One person is Jean Vanier, who for fifty years has been reaching out to those with developmental disabilities. He founded L’Arche, The Ark, in 1964 which now has thirty-seven communities world wide. Jean Vanier shares that: “Our community life is beautiful and intense, a source of life for everyone. People with a disability experience a real transformation and discover confidence in themselves; they discover their capacity to make choices, and also find a certain liberty and above all their dignity as human beings.”
Sr. Norma Pimentel, MJ, has been working on the US border in Texas for some thirty years helping to provide aid and support for those crossing the border. She was touched very soon after her profession as a sister when border patrol agents brought families to her convent. She recognized that Jesus called her to provide hospitality and protect those in need. She is working with city officials and border patrol to help transform minds and actions so to prevent and counter such tragic events as separation of families and children and the most recent tragic death this week of seven-year-old Jakelin Caal. “Scripture comes to life and our faith becomes flesh,” she said. “It is not until you find yourself in front of the face of the immigrant child or mother that you will understand this. It is a moment of realizing we are all one human family.”
A third shining light is Sr. Helen Prejean of the Congregation of St Joseph who has been a spiritual director to inmates of death row for decades. Her work became well known when she published her book, Dead Man Walking, in the mid nineties. Sr Helen has also been a strong advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. “I saw the suffering and I let myself feel it… I saw the injustice and was compelled to do something about it. I changed from being a nun who only prayed for the suffering world to a woman with my sleeves rolled up, living my prayer.”
In each example I shared in today’s reflection, Jean Vanier, Sr. Norma Pimentel and Sr. Helen Prejean encountered the person, and “sneaky Jesus” as Sr. Helen has shared, imparted his grace upon them and led them to encounter the dignity of those who were treated as though they had none. They were able to feel their plight and they heard their cry, then reached out to provide needed help and support.
As God’s grace expanded within them, they became champions and a voice for those without a voice. They embodied the definition of solidarity as defined by Pope Francis which “refers to more than a few sporadic acts of generosity. It presumes the creation of a new mind-set that thinks in terms of community and the priority of the life of all, over the appropriation of goods by a few.”
John the Baptist shows us in today’s Gospel from Luke that joy is found in transformation of mind and heart that leads to action. Are we willing to allow the grace of “sneaky Jesus” to conform us such that we become people of compassion and service, that recognize the dignity of all people, and resist rationalizing or being indifferent to the plight of those who are in need? Come Lord Jesus, set our hearts on fire that we may see who you call us to be and who you call us to serve.
Photo: Sr. Helen Prejean, March 2014. (Scott Langley, courtesy of Ministry Against the Death Penalty)
Link to audio Jesuitical interview with Sr. Helen Prejean: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/12/14/sister-helen-prejean-fought-death-penalty-and-won
Link for the Mass reading for Sunday, December 16, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121618.cfm
Trust in the invitation of Jesus this Advent.
The disciples who asked the question, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” (Mt 17:10) were Peter, James, and John, who had just witnessed the transfiguration of Jesus. They were walking down from the Mount of Transfiguration, tradition identifying this mountain as Mt. Tabor, and the context of the question had to do with, Moses and Elijah, who they saw with Jesus as he revealed his divinity.
As the disciples were attempting to digest this Mystery of the Transfiguration that they just witnessed, they were drawing back to what they knew, the interpretations of the scribes. Most likely what they were referring to the accounts in the Books of Sirach and Malachi. In Sirach 48:10 we too can read that, “You [Elijah] are destined, it is written, in times to come to put an end to the wrath before the day of the Lord, to turn back the hearts of the fathers toward their sons, and to re-establish the tribes of Jacob.” In the last chapter of the Book of Malachi, which is incidentally the last lines of the Christian Old Testament ordering of the canon, are the words: “Remember the law of Moses my servant, which I enjoined upon him on Horeb, the Statutes and ordinances for all Israel. Lo, I will send you Elijah, the prophet, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and terrible day” (3:22-23).
Moses in this encounter represents the Torah, the Law or Teachings, and Elijah represents the line of prophets. Elijah also, as we can read in 2 Kings 2:11, was taken up by God into heaven, amid “a flaming chariot and flaming horses… and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind”, and, it was believed, as we can see in the above accounts, that he was to return again at the appointed time when the Messiah would come. Jesus clarified for his disciples that John was indeed the new Elijah. In the revealing of his divinity to Peter, James, and John, Jesus showed that he was the fulfillment of the salvific paths forged by Moses, Elijah, the line of prophets, and John the Baptist.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, and he is our fulfillment as well. We are invited to prepare the Way of the Lord in our hearts and minds, to become less so that Jesus can become more, as well as to help prepare the way for others. When I first returned to church in my late teens, I went to a Congregational Church that was about a half mile walk from our home. At the end of that first service I attended, the interim pastor made an appeal for Sunday School teachers. One of the things he said was that we do not know who Jesus’ Sunday School teacher was and he referenced that we could be teaching Jesus and not be aware.
We were not to take him literally, but his point was that we had the responsibility to continue to pass on the Greatest Story ever told. Also, his appeal was an avenue for the Holy Spirit to speak through him to me, and although I refused the invitation the first week, I returned and accepted the invitation the following week. What might Jesus be inviting you to this Advent? Trust his invitation.
My yes to teaching Sunday School, not knowing the first thing about what I was doing, thinking I was too young, would eventually, through many twists and turns lead me back home to the Catholic Church, to becoming a teacher, a deacon, and me writing you today and continuing to share the message of the Gospel: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel” (Mk 1:15).
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Photo: First Congregational Church of East Windsor, one of the stepping stones that led me to where I am today. Accessed from: http://fcceastwindsor.com/
Link for today’s Mass readings, Saturday, December 15, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121518.cfm
Jesus invites us, will we be fickle or will we follow?
Jesus compared “this generation” to children who could not be satisfied. For when the flute was played for them they did not dance, when the dirge was played they did not mourn. There was no pleasing them no matter what. Jesus drew the parallel to the present bystanders who acted as fickle as the children. They criticized John as being possessed for practicing fasting and asceticism. They also criticized Jesus as a glutton and a drunkard for his table fellowship with all who were willing.
In today’s Gospel account, Jesus could have been addressing his detractors as well as his disciples. He encouraged his followers to be wary not to wallow in the mud of fickleness, but also to be clear that their preaching and teaching was to be based on being a dispenser of his truth and the will of his Father and not the reaction of the people, for “wisdom is vindicated by her works” (Mt 11:19). Just as Jesus taught that false prophets would be revealed over time by their fruits (cf. Mt 7:16), so those who were true to his teachings would be vindicated, if not fully in this life, certainly then in the next.
Pope Francis said that, “The first thing for a disciple is to be with the Master, to listen to him and learn from him” (Francis 2014, 15). May we pray for open hearts and minds eager and willing to hear the word of Jesus our Master and the courage to act upon his leading in our everyday circumstances. To do so, we must first slow down our pace and quiet our minds sufficiently enough so that we can even hear his word. We also need to discern the difference between his voice, our own, and the many others distractions and temptations we hear. God himself speaks to us in so many ways; directly in the silence of the heart, through others, spiritual direction, small groups, fellowship, through the Bible, as well as our culture, and influences, through his creation, in so many ways.
More often than not, we may not definitively know if what we hear and how we are being moved is coming from God. We seek support and confirmation from Scripture and Tradition, others who are wise and practiced in following God, reassess our intention and goal, and then go. If we are wrong, we learn from our mistakes and begin again. If we are on the mark, this helps us to build our confidence in knowing the voice of Jesus. What we do not want to do is remain indecisive out of fear or anxiety, from the perceived reaction that will come. Nor do we want to remain indifferent to action.
Let us not seek to impress, but to express. We are to resist seeking adulation and acclaim, and go forward with firm intent, seeking to invite others to participate in the life of Christ. We are to resist moralizing and condemning, and instead be willing to be present with and meet people where they are and accompany them.
Jesus invites us, will we follow? Just as in learning to walk, our beginning attempts more often than not ended with a thud and us sitting on the floor or ground looking up. Yet, we got up, and soon with practice, gained strength, balance, made corrections, then we began to gain confidence and the ability to move forward upright, step by wobbly step. So it is in the spiritual life. If we are not moving ahead we are falling behind.
Jesus help us to know you and your voice so we may follow the will of your Father. Grant us the courage to walk with you, that we may risk whatever the reaction of others may be as we offer your truth with love and mercy. Set a spark in our soul so that above all we begin, one step at a time, hand in hand with you and each other. Help us move forward and allow God to happen.
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Photo: Day of installation as Lector with my classmates Pete and Hank. As was said to us while we were being installed: “Take this book of holy Scripture and be faithful in handing on the word of God, so that it may grow strong in the hearts of his people.” – from the Rites, Volume Two.
Francis, Pope. The Church of Mercy: A Vision for the Church. Chicago: Loyola Press, 2014.
Link for today’s Mass readings for Friday, December 14, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121418.cfm
Remember how we renew our baptismal vows?
“Amen, I say to you, among those born of women there has been none greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Mt 11:11).
Jesus shared that there has been no greater than John the Baptist. John is a bridge from the Old Covenant to the New. To say that John and Jesus played significant roles in ushering in the Kingdom of heaven is an understatement. For they both preached the same message of repentance, of the need for all to recognize how they had turned away from God and needed to turn back to him. This is a key invitation for us as well during the preparatory seasons of Advent and Lent, may we have the ears to hear!
John lived a life of asceticism giving all to God, rejecting the material comforts of his time, choosing to live in the wilderness, and relying solely on the divine providence of God. He followed in the line of the prophets and he did so with full-throated confidence and fearlessness. Many were moved by his words and came to repent. John though ministered not to put himself on a pedestal, his role was to prepare the way for the coming of the Messiah, he was to assist in ushering in the Kingdom of heaven, he himself was not the Kingdom. As John shared, Jesus was to increase and he was to decrease (cf. Jn 3:30). John’s words of speaking truth to power also led to his martyrdom. The death of John signaled the time for Jesus’ public ministry to begin.
Jesus recognized the contribution and place of John in his Father’s plan, yet he also shared how “the least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he.” The reason Jesus made this claim was that John’s baptism was one of repentance. The Baptism Jesus instituted was one of new life. Through our being baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, we have died with Christ and have risen with him. We have been given a new life and are incorporated into his Mystical Body.
Through our Baptism, we, in participation with Jesus, become priests, prophets, and kings. As a part of the common priesthood, we are to sacrifice our time, giving of ourselves in prayer and worship; our talent, embracing the unique gifts God has given us to share; and our treasure, being good stewards of the blessings God has given.
As prophets, we are to speak the word of God, speak truth to power as John and Jesus did, we are to be the voice of the voiceless and stand for up for the human dignity of all those who are vulnerable or mistreated from the moment of conception until natural death.
We are to be servant kings, resisting the temptation to seek our own power, glory, fame, and riches, and instead surrender ourselves to the will of our Father, and like his Son wash the feet of those in need, meaning there is no service of our brothers or sisters that we ought to feel is beneath us in reaching out in love, to will the good of each other.
Advent is our time to repent, to recommit, to rediscover the wonderful relationship we are invited to embrace and are called to share: The infinite divine love of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, whose name we have been baptized in. Remember why we dip our finger in the baptismal font before Mass and make the Sign of the Cross. We do so to recommit to our baptismal vows. When we do the same action when we leave, we leave as priests, prophets, and kings to go forth into our realm of influence to love one another as Jesus loves us, with an all-embracing, unconditional love!
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Photo: Baptismal font with a statue of John the Baptist, from Mission San Luis Rey de Francia, Oceanside, CA
Link for today’s Mass readings for Thursday, December 13, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121318.cfm
There is great joy in Reconciliation!
“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste” (Lk 1:39). Why? Because she was filled with joy. She had just experienced an incredible encounter with the angel Gabriel telling her that she was to bear the “holy, Son of God” (Lk 1:35). She also learned that her relative Elizabeth, who had been barren, was six months pregnant. Who better to understand and appreciate what she had gone through than Elizabeth? When we hear good news we want to share it with someone, especially when we believe another will fully appreciate our experience.
Is there a time when you felt overjoyed about something that you felt like you were going to burst and you couldn’t wait to share your experience? A memory may have already started forming in your mind, a smile and glow may be radiating from your eyes as you re-experience that moment.
One such graced encounter I had was when I was in my early twenties and dealing with a heavy personal issue. I was living in Sharon, Connecticut at the time and had an opportunity to go to the Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts to participate in a penance service. I walked up hesitantly to a kind looking, elderly, polish Marian priest. His name alludes me now, but not his face. He radiated invitation and mercy. After a few stammering words, I let loose and shared what I had been dealing with. When he offered absolution, I felt the burden physically lift, I felt almost like levitating. Then a surge of joy welled up in me that lasted for days.
There is a great gift in sharing a burden with a trusted friend or family member, being heard and supported. We need to resist the temptation of turning within ourselves, trusting in the lie that we can handle our conflicts, challenges and trials all on our own. I do not often have that emotional of an experience as I described above, when I to confession, but often I have felt a measure of peace and confidence. There is a pearl of great price, God’s healing grace, that is available in the Sacrament of Reconciliation!
Many of us are struggling with a lot, and sometimes we are not at our best, nor do we make our best decisions, we react instead of act, we get caught in the momentum of behavior that we know is not acceptable, but we continue to slide. The key is not to beat ourselves up and walk around feeling guilty. There are enough people who would be happy sign up to do that for us. Instead may we choose to practice a healthy sense of guilt, examining our conscience, knowing, and being able to admit when we have done something inappropriate or wrong.
That is the key to reconciliation, embracing the humility to admit our sin, to be contrite – sorry for what we have done, not upset or defensive because we got caught, and confess our sin, so to receive forgiveness and grace, to go and sin no more! For those who are non Catholic, follow the counsel of James: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed” (James 5:16). Then when we have experienced the joy of forgiveness, of reconciliation, may we be like Mary, and go in haste to share with others the wonderful gift we have received and invite them to do the same!
Photo: “Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the source of your joy? Are you not in the hollow of my mantle, in the crossing of my arms?” – Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego. Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pray for us!
Link for today’s reading for Tuesday, December, 12, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121218.cfm
Place your hand in our Father’s and follow his lead.
Jesus offers in today’s Gospel of Luke the parable of the lost sheep. This parable is another expression of Jesus painting a word picture of God’s abundant and extravagant love. To us, leaving the ninety-nine sheep alone, those who did not stray, to search for the one that was lost, can appear not only unreasonable but unbelievable.
Yet, this is not the feeling to the one who is lost. This extravagant love is a relief. It is the love that we can only experience if we are willing to resist slipping into judgment and pride, as did the elder son who was not willing to forgive his brother who was lost but now found. The father loved him with the same love, but he closed himself off from it.
What God wants is for us to be happy, to be fulfilled, to be fully alive, and he is willing to risk us going astray such that we can come to realize the emptiness in any pursuit that ultimately does not bring us closer to him. God does not seek for any one of us to be lost, but he urges us to fulfill who he created us to be. He guides us along as a parent urging his child to walk. Yet, though he lovingly implores us along, we can be distracted, turn, crawl away, and go in a different direction.
Have we taken our eyes off of our Father? Have we crawled away from his invitation? No matter how far we believe we are from him, he has always been close, following, watching, ready for us to turn back to him. When we do turn back, he is there waiting for us, urging us to rise and walk into his open embrace.
May we remember this Advent that God is eternally present to us, for he loves us more than we can ever mess up, he loves us more than we can ever imagine, and he refuses to define us by our worst choices and moments. Our Father’s hand is extended out to us, let us take his hand and let him lead us.
Photo: Hand in hand with my father.
Link for the Mass readings for Tuesday, December 11, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121118.cfm
“Your sins are forgiven.”
Have you ever locked yourself out of your house or car? Have you ever needed to get somewhere and were stuck in traffic? Have you ever needed to mail something at the post office and when you arrived the line was already out of the door? Have you been sick and not been able to get to a doctor? Have you or are you dealing with a chronic or debilitating health condition? Are you aware of a recurring sin, that you just can’t seem to get past?
If you have experienced any or many of the situations above, you may have some empathy for the man in today’s Gospel of Luke who is paralyzed. Word has come to him that Jesus of Nazareth is close by. He heard that Jesus has helped the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and the lame to walk. Could he receive a healing? How though could he get to him? Somehow men came forward to bring the man, we don’t know if they were family, friends, or neighbors. In Mark’s account (cf. Mk 2:1-12) he wrote that there were four men. The key point is that they bothered to care, they made the time, carried him on a stretcher, and brought the man to Jesus.
When they arrived they could not find “a way to bring him in because of the crowds” (Lk 5:19). Unfortunately, “the crowds” could not be bothered to move, to adjust their positions, or to make a way for them to get through. We can imagine the man’s anguish. He had come this far, but would be able to get no closer. Maybe some of his bearers were getting frustrated with the lack of willingness of others to make way. Yet, one of the five, maybe even the man himself, was able to think outside of the box.
They maneuvered the man, still on the stretcher, up to the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down before Jesus. Jesus witnessing their faith said, “As for you, your sins are forgiven” (Lk 5:20). Before the man could even fully take in the wonderful gift of mercy he had received, the scribes and Pharisees challenged Jesus’ words, accusing him of blasphemy. Only God could forgive sins. Jesus not missing a beat doubled down: “Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”– he said to the one who was paralyzed, “I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home” (Lk 5:23-24).
The man, who, with the aid of four others, met every obstacle placed before him to get to Jesus. Then he faced his last obstacle, the one that put him in this position in the first place, his sins. He was ready, willing, and able to face his sins and relinquish them in the healing words of Jesus. Just to be clear, not everyone who is dealing with a physical or chronic condition does so because of sin. This man had, for it was so deep in his being, and for how long we do not know but, he was paralyzed by them. We can beat ourselves up pretty bad, and be so unforgiving of others and ourselves, that sin often has debilitating effects.
The passage regarding the Healing of the Paralytic is a wonderful account to meditate on. I invite you to read it through a couple of times. Who do we at the moment of our reading see ourselves to be in the story? Are we the four men that offer help to the paralyzed man, the many onlookers in the crowd who prevent access to Jesus, the scribes and Pharisees, or are we the man paralyzed by sin? Is there something that is preventing us from getting to Jesus, is there a recurring sin that we keep repeating, are we are unwilling to forgive someone, are there particular attachments we cling to?
Let nothing prevent you from coming to Jesus. There may be those blocking access to him. You may have gone in the past to Confession and had a horrible experience with a priest who may have actually berated you, or the opposite. You may have had a sin that was totally discounted or brushed over. You may have even encountered an indifferent priest who appeared not to give you the time of day. Those are unfortunate experiences, hurtful, and inexcusable. You may have had others say to you or you may say to yourself, I do not need to go to a priest, I can just go to God. This is true you can, and a daily practice of examining your conscience and doing that is a wonderful spiritual discipline. I would encourage you to continue!
Come to Jesus. He is present in the sacrament of Reconciliation as he is in all the sacraments. This is a personal encounter with Christ. As the paralyzed man needed aid getting to Jesus, so do we. The priest is a minister of God’s mercy and grace, present to us so that we can hear the words of Christ: “Your sins are forgiven” and “I absolve you from your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” There is something about hearing those words that is freeing and healing. Just as the man heard Jesus say he was forgiven and left praising God, so too may we come to Jesus so that we may also encounter his mercy, and also leave healed, filled with joy, and praising God!
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If you happen to be in the Jupiter area, this Wednesday, December 19, we will have priests available at 9:00 am to hear your confessions and also two communal penance services at 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm. Both services will be held in our chapel. There will be signs posted to direct you. St. Peter Catholic Church is located on 1701 Indian Creek Parkway, Jupiter, FL 33458. Our priests are also available for confession every Saturday at 3:15 in our chapel. If you are reading this from afar, access a parish near you this Advent. If you are not Catholic, you can still reach out to God and one another!
Photo: Pope Francis giving absolution to a young teen, link where I accessed it from:
http://thecatholiccatalogue.com/in-surprise-appearance-pope-francis-hears-confessions-of-teens-in-vatican-square/
Link for the Mass readings for Monday, December 10, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/121018.cfm
Jesus, help us to embrace our humanity.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and Herod was tetrarch of Galilee… (Lk 3:1).
This may be an odd verse to focus on in Advent, or anytime when sharing a reflection, but there is a point to this historical piece of information that Luke presents to us in his Gospel today. The point is that Jesus, the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary, was born in time, he was born in a place. The Gospels are not myths.
The Son of God came among us as one of us. This means he experienced what we experience as human beings. He caught colds, he stubbed his toes, he was misunderstood, he felt sad, he cried, yet he also laughed and experienced the simple joys of food and drink, fellowship and conversation, as well as familial and religious celebrations.
Let us continue this Advent, as the Baptist implores us, to “Prepare the way of the Lord.” In doing so, may we remember that Jesus did not run from his humanity, but embraced it. He understands what our challenges are and what we are going through in our daily lives. Jesus meets us where we are in our present condition and loves us as we are with understanding and compassion.
We can let go of compartmentalizing, allocating Jesus to only one hour a week, and instead invite Jesus into all aspects of our lives. As we walk with him and embrace our humanity, we come to see his presence in all we do.
Jesus cleanse our hearts, so to reveal to us more clearly those choices we make and that which we bring into our life that are false truths, apparent goods, and substitutes that separate us from your Father. Help us to let them go so to embrace that which is for our highest hope and good, that which is True, and Good, and Beautiful.
Painting: “Jesus Lauging”, by Ralph Kozak 1976
Link for the Mass readings for Sunday, December 9, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120918.cfm
May we ponder Mary’s yes.
Mary, full of grace and the model of discipleship, is on display in today’s reading from Luke’s Gospel. In a mystical encounter, the angel Gabriel shared with Mary that she would bear the “Son of the Most High” (Lk 1:32). Mary heard clearly what Gabriel said though she did not fully comprehend. Who would? So Mary asked, “How can this be, since I have no relations with a man” (Lk 1:34)?
This is a different question than what Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, asked of Gabriel in a similar situation: “How shall I know” (Lk 1:18)? Zechariah was looking for a sign, he sought proof. Mary, through her faith in God, sought to understand what God required of her, so she combined her faith and her reason. While she pondered Gabriel’s response, the whole of the cosmos held its breath for her response.
When Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Lk 1:38), a weary world, wounded by sin exhaled with relief for the long awaited savior could now come to redeem what had been lost. Mary, in her obedience, undid the Sin of Origin committed by Adam and Eve in their disobedience.
Mary, help us to ponder your yes, your willingness to follow the will of God and to give birth to our savior. Help us to ponder what this reality means to us and our lives. Help us to be disciples like you, resisting a knee jerk reaction of rejecting outright what we do not understand and choose instead to be open to the possibilities available to us that are beyond the realm of our senses and limitations. May we too, like you, seek understanding instead of demanding proof. Help us to understand that this surrender is not a practice in limiting ourselves to mere superstition but an embracing of the fullness of what it means to be human, so to embrace the reality of our physical as well as our spiritual natures, and allowing ourselves to be expanded by God beyond our finite limitations.
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Photo: Grotto at Rosary Garden, St Peter Catholic Church, Jupiter, FL
Link for the Mass readings for Saturday, December 8, 2018: http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/120818.cfm
Spiritual Stepping Stones 