4th Sunday of Advent – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

 

Welcome back Gabriel. You will recall that the angel Gabriel came first Zechariah to announce to him and his wife Elizabeth the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ. Now he has been sent to Mary to announce Jesus’ birth. These stories come from a section in Luke called the “infancy gospel” (1:5 — 2:52). The stories in this section prepare us for the life of Jesus.
John and Jesus’ births are interwoven. Luke narrates them in a way that shows God is acting in a new moment in human history. Let’s step back for a moment, because our first reading helps us understand what is happening in the gospel narratives.

When I read biblical texts I am always attentive to when a “But” or “However” appear in the text. They often follow the description of human need and frustration and signal that now God is stepping in to do what humans cannot. You could build an entire preaching on the moment in a text when the “But” shows up — it signals, “Get ready, God is about to act!” Today’s first reading is a passage with a “But” and what follows shows God taking charge.

King David has built a nice palace for himself and now his conscience is bothering him. He says to the prophet Nathan, “Here I am living in a house of cedar while the ark of God dwells in the tent.” When the Israelites traveled through the arduous desert the ark traveled with them and was kept in a tent. The tent was a sign of God’s presence with them; wherever they went, God did too. The tent was a meeting place between God and the people and the reassurance of God’s presence and protection. God dwelt in a humble tent among the needy, nomadic people. Isn’t that a wonderful image for Jesus? — the tent of God’s presence traveling humbly with us.

David has plans to build a temple for God. But David is a man of war. His son Solomon is a man of peace and he will be the one to build the temple. “Solomon” and “Shalom” — see how close the two words are? While David has plans, God’s plans trump David’s. This is another reading with a series of “I statements.” There are 10 of them and they reveal that God is in charge, saying over and over again, “I will… I have….” God wants a temple, but not made of stone and promises a lasting kingdom for Solomon and his descendants. “I will raise up your heir… I will make his kingdom firm.” Now we turn to the gospel to see how God is going to fulfill God’s plan: build a temple in which to dwell and also travel humbly with the people.

Yes, Gabriel does make a return visit today. But the presence of Mary and her faith are our focus. Gabriel greets Mary and announces what God is doing in her life — she is favored by God (“full of grace”). The story, as biblical stories often do, begins with God’s initiative and gracious love. Then the conversation begins. God is favoring Mary and she responds in trust. She needn’t fear; God is asking for her faith. Her “Yes” allows God’s work in her to proceed. The focus then widens as the work of the Holy Spirit is announced. Through the Spirit God is building a new and lasting temple for the people.

My favorite verse from the story has been, “For nothing is impossible for God.” The gospels make it quite clear what it means to be a disciple of Christ. It involves picking up his cross and following Jesus by loving and serving others, especially the least lovable. Now that is impossible for us mere humans. We are guided today by Mary who responds to what she has heard, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” We too say our “Yes” to God and put faith in what Gabriel tells us today, “For nothing will be impossible for God.”

Mary isn’t mute in this story. Her faith is strong, but still she would like to know how Gabriel’s words are going to come to pass. The Spirit of God does not make us passive recipients of God’s graces, nor does God silence us into mute service, Mystery often leaves us with questions. Gabriel’s response to Mary’s inquiry, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” is not an explanation to Mary about how things will work out, how the pregnancy will take place. Gabriel offers Mary reassurance and the invitation to trust. “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” “Come upon” (“overshadow”) is a sign of God’s protective presence. Mary doesn’t know how the angel’s words will come about, but her consent in faith is what she needs to do. God now has room to work.

Throughout Luke’s gospel there are many “fulfillment” themes, which point to Christ as the fulfillment of the promises made to the Jewish people. So, for example, Luke depicts this Annunciation as the crowning moment of the ancient prophecies; especially the promise that God will “fix a place” for God’s people and will establish a “house” for them and a kingdom that will endure forever.

We are one week from Christmas. The craziness of the season began many weeks ago. But Luke’s narrative announcing the coming birth of Jesus is filled with respect, reverence and, yes, even peace — though questions remain. Most of us come to this Eucharist out of breath from the rush and plannings of these days. Luke is a masterful storyteller and listening to the content and tone of the Annunciation can have a quieting effect on our rattled nerves. Just take it in and let the power of the Word work. Let’s hear the reassurance in the passage and let the Holy Spirit “come upon” us to bring new life in areas where we are faltering or feeling empty.

Behind each biblical story, often after a “But” or “However,” we discover a God of grace. Grace comes as a gift because human merit cannot achieve or be worthy of it. The faith the story of the Annunciation invites us to make is contained in the passage itself, “For nothing will be impossible for God.”

So, what is it that we have labeled “impossible” in our lives? Have we allowed room for God to say the “But” of grace to us and then made room for God to come with power to help us? Luke will continue through his gospel to tell story after story of God’s grace manifested through Christ’s words and actions. Then when the story seems to end at the tomb and failure, God will speak another “But” and raise Jesus from the dead. The story that begins for us in these early gospel accounts will be passed on to the disciples in the upper room when the same life-giving Holy Spirit “overshadows” them.

Through our Baptism and Confirmation we too have been overshadowed by the Spirit and now we look for ways to let the Spirit be active through our lives as we serve the Lord. When we come up against obstacles and discouragement in our mission we will hear an echo of today’s gospel, “For nothing is impossible for God.”
Fruit of the Womb – Visitation

The Gospel of Luke starts from Z to A! An angel appeared to a priest, Zacharias, in the temple, and told him that his wife Elizabeth was to have a child. Another angel appeared to a young virgin called Mary, in Nazareth, and she was told that she would give birth to the Messiah. Luke goes on, after the Annunciation, to describe the meeting of the two cousins.

The Visitation of Mary and Elizabeth reads and sounds like the script and the music of the greatest Christmas play ever produced. But when you think about it, these women must have been a little crazy. One was way too old to be contemplating maternity, and the other was too dangerously unwed to be carrying a child in a culture that stoned women for far less: two women from the same family, separated by miles and generations, daring to do something as strange and risky, well, inconceivable in any sense of the word. And yet they conceived, by the will of God as they believed, and they bore these fresh new lives to fulfillment despite all the odds.

Just the idea of the Visitation makes you shiver. It’s so subversive of social mores, the natural order, and the network of original sin. It’s so delightfully original in its own way that only God, the author of all things, could have come up with it.

And the thing is, no one suspected it. It happened right under the nose of the great Roman Empire, the religious caste of Jerusalem, and the devil himself. An old lady and a teenage girl undid the whole fabric of the corrupted world while no one was looking. Who could have imagined it could happen this way!

When we see pregnant women everywhere, massaging their sore ankles on street corners, taking off their shoes on buses, pushing their carriage with the last one in it while the first one is tagging at her side and the next one is kicking her inside, we ought to pause for a moment of sincere respect. These women carry worlds within them, every possibility for the future and every hope of humanity. Mothers are the ark of life, and Noah with his one-time zoo had nothing on the contribution of mothers throughout history. The power of mothers is more imposing than that of any president, as they are the best examples of Christianity short of Jesus himself.

Scripture tells us nothing of Mary’s journey to her cousin Elizabeth’s home. We are given only vague details telling us that it is somewhere in the hill country and that Mary hurries there because of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. It probably was a grueling trip for her to make. But Mary does it willingly to where she is needed. And when her own pregnancy nears completion, she will take another difficult journey, this time to Bethlehem to fulfill the words of the prophets.

Mary, this “Christ bearer,” is bringing to Elizabeth the presence of the Messiah for the first time. And it has a dramatic effect on her and on the baby John in her womb. Neither would ever be the same again.

Let us take time to be aware that in the very midst of our busy preparations for the celebration of Christ’s birth in ancient Bethlehem, Christ is reborn in the Bethlehem of our homes and daily lives. Take time, slow down, be still, wake up to the divine mystery that looks so common and so ordinary, yet so wondrously present
And the Winner is Mary!”
Isn’t it wonderful to be chosen; to have a chance to fulfill your destiny? Isn’t it great just to be discovered; to have someone believe in you? That is why we love most “rags to riches” stories, and knowing that an ordinary and simple person has won the big lottery. Teachers in a classroom of young children often ask questions and a sea of little hand are extended towards them. The teacher needs a volunteer to answer a question. The academic stars are usually the same few ones to raise their hands first. Previous success breeds such confidence. But the teacher often looks around and chooses someone in the back of the class who never raises his or her hand. He/she just needed confidence. The teacher overlooks the eager hands, and soon a new academic star might be found.

Our gospel passage today is just this kind of story. Here is a peasant girl from Nazareth named Mary, who is living a normal life in obscurity. The Bible does not indicate that she was remarkable in any particular way. Anyone looking for a star or important person would have never gone to Nazareth of Galilee. You would have gone to Rome!

So our question today is why did God choose such unimpressive maiden for a crucial role? If God did it with Mary, what is your calling? Are you chosen too? If we read the text carefully, we might find some guidelines to help us answer these questions.

I. God chooses each one of us with an initiative of grace. The first move is God’s. You do not apply for a calling, or send recommendation letters. He has been watching for you. You do not have to win anything or beat anyone for the call. God comes to you on His own initiative.
Was Mary applying for the honor of becoming the mother of the Messiah? No. She wasn’t even thinking about this role. And when the angel came, she was perplexed and afraid. This was not the obvious answer to her prayers.

II. There is always a challenge in God’s calling. In other words, why does God choose the ones he chooses? That is a mystery to us. But God does the choosing nonetheless. And when God calls, He calls you to a place beyond your current dreams. A shepherd boy, David, certainly never dreamed to become a king. Who else but God would find Moses hiding from Egypt on the backside of Mount Horeb? You see, God does not see as we see. He looks on the heart. He knows you and me better than we know ourselves.

Is God calling on your life? He may be asking for more than you dare to try. Go ahead and be afraid, but, like Mary, say “Yes” anyway. What if Mary had said “No”? What if she had clung to her smaller and village-size vision and life plan? Where would we all be?

III. God provides encouragement and power to help in fulfilling His calling.
God understands your hesitancy. He understood Mary’s. She probably had already planned to marry her beloved Joseph, and wanted to have children someday. She probably imagined a life of simple joys, hard work, and family love. That was a good life, after all. But God chose her to bear the Messiah. That calling was unheard of, risky, uncertain and difficult even to imagine. Unbeknown to her, such call would also give her a chance to love, nurture and follow Jesus Christ like no one else.

But, of course, only God can see the end of the journey from the beginning. He knows we feel afraid, and we need encouragement to begin. That is why He offered Mary the insight to her elder cousin’s miracle conception. He could do something wondrous too with Mary’s life. Such awareness of God’s miracles with others helps us trust His plans in our own life.

So, is God calling us? Is he pointing us to service to the poor, or a ministry in the Church, or to make a generous financial contribution to the work of the Kingdom – the poor? Is He calling us to stand up against in justice? If so, look around for others upon whom God may be calling. Let them be an encouragement to you. If you and I are fearful, or jus need an encouraging ear to talk about our calling, let’s go and talk to them, let’s find a spiritual mentor, another ‘Elizabeth.’

Like Mary, let’s start saying “YES”. And be aware, that ‘Yes’ will cost us. We will have to trade in all our smaller plans for the great plan God dreams for us. I can tell you, as in the case of Mary, that such trades would be a good deal indeed.

GIVING YOUR BEST

What God needs from you.
Luke begins with announcements, good news. Elizabeth in her advanced age is going to have a child. He will be the forerunner of the Messiah. Then there is another announcement. Mary, cousin of Elizabeth, is going to give birth to the Messiah. The angel Gabriel is commissioned to Nazareth to a young woman named Mary who is engaged to a man named Joseph. The angel tells Mary that she is to have a son, whom she will name Jesus. This puzzles Mary since she is as yet unmarried and is a virgin. Gabriel explains that the child will be conceived by the Holy Spirit and will be the Son of God. Mary’s response is beautiful in its simplicity and appropriateness: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be done with me according to your word.”

It’s clear that what God wanted from Mary was her consent, her willingness. God needed Mary’s consent to accomplish the Incarnation. Has it ever occur to us that God might need us? Of course not! We need God. In a million ways, we need God. How could God possibly need us? The biblical story shows a consistent pattern of God’s redemptive work is to use human instrumentality in accomplishing God’s purposes. Already in Eden, God the Creator established humankind in a stewardship role, overseeing and caring for the earth. With Abraham, too, God made a covenant of mutuality and interdependence. God chose to be dependent on us for the accomplishment of God’s will. God needs us, our consent, our willing response.

Hence, the best gift we can give to God is ourselves. God both loves and needs us. The best gift we can give to God is expressed in the words of the consenting Mary: “Here I am, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”

What others need from you.
Look at your Christmas shopping list. What people really need depends on the relationship they keep between them. There is nothing you have, or can acquire, that your family probably needs as much as they need you. More than they need the world you can provide them, they need you.
What do people really need from you? More than your gifts, your protection, your support, they need you! Your spouse, your children, they need you, first of all.

The best gift is the most difficult to give.
Ironically, the best gift we can give is the most difficult to give. Mary did it well, supremely well. She is a model of self-giving for all of us. We believe we are unworthy, unattractive, and underachieving. We do not find ourselves either loveable or capable. We secretly evaluate our net worth as zero. We keep these negative feelings to ourselves and try to compensate, usually overcompensating. We pretend to possess self-esteem. We work at looking good. But our hearts are riddled with doubt and eventually betray us.

We need to find Christmas. We need to come to Christ. We need to hear that we are loved unconditionally. We need to see ourselves in God’s eyes and rejoice in how utterly and magnificently we are loved. We are loveable and loved, and when we give ourselves we are giving our very best.
REJOICE

Luke the evangelist did not want his readers to read his gospel just like any other scripture. What he wanted to announce was not just like any other news that circulated around the Roman Empire. He wanted his readers to set their hearts ready: to begin to feel the joy, get rid of fears and truly believe that God was near, ready to transform their lives

With an unequal skill, Luke sets up a scene of how Mary heard, deep within her heart, the news about the birth of her son Jesus. Everyone should join her to welcome the Saviour. Can it be possible today to get ready to welcome the Son of God?

“Rejoice.” That’s the first word heard by anyone who’s ready or surprised to live a truly good experience. Nowadays, most of us do not know or like to wait. We are like little children, always impatient to get things immediately. We live surrounded by things, and we are not trained to pay attention and listen to our inner desires. In other words, we don’t know how to wait for God, and, much less, how to seek for joy ahead of us. We are missing some of the best things of life.
We seem content with the immediate satisfaction, pleasures and entertainment offered to us by consumer comforts. Deep down, we recognize our errors, but we don’t want to declare our faith in a God that would probably reveal other ways to discover joys and happiness.

“Do not be afraid.” Joy and happiness cannot be found when we live surrounded by fears both within and around us. How, then, can we think about, feel and actually live in a positive and hopeful manner? How can we get rid of our own cowardice and impotence, surrounded as we are by evil?
We have forgotten that taking care of our inner life is more important than anything that goes around us. If we are empty within, we become vulnerable from outside. We keep losing our faith and trust in God, and we cannot protect ourselves from all that harm us.

“The Lord is with you.” God is a creative force, who is good to us. We are not alone, just lost in the world. Mankind is not abandoned in the universe. Our hope must be found in that ultimate mystery of life. Everything becomes clearer when we realize that God has always been there for us.