Our readings today near the end of the Advent season help prepare us for the true meaning of Christmas at a time when many of us are probably preoccupied with other things, such as buying last-minute gifts, decorating our homes, or winding things down at work before we celebrate Christmas with our families.
Mary’s song of the Magnificat in today’s Gospel is filled with extraordinary proclamations about God. Mary expresses a remarkable strength of belief. Sister Elizabeth Johnson, who taught theology at Fordham University in New York for many years, remarks that “Mary’s Magnificat …shows a woman whose consciousness is deeply rooted in the heritage and wisdom of the strong women of Israel. Knowledge about the liberating traditions of her own people, (the Virgin Mary), this friend of God, stands (out) as a prophet.”
We hear from Hannah in our first reading today, another prophetic woman from Ancient Israel. Hannah brings her young son, Samuel, to the Temple to dedicate him to God and to leave him there under the tutelage of the prophet Eli. Hannah does this to fulfill her promise to God for answering her prayers and giving her a son. Hannah is one of many faithful Jewish women in Holy Scripture that Mary was aware of as she joyfully sings the Magnificat.
Perhaps the messages of Hannah and Mary are helping us discover the true meaning of Advent in the midst of our busy secular world. As God manifested himself in the humble manger in Bethlehem in the form of baby Jesus, he reminds us that in our modern world today, God's real presence is still among us, a presence. We encounter this presence in many ways. Our readings in this last week of Advent remind us how much we are loved by God just as we are. The Magnificat reminds us that God loves us, that he desires us to express this love to him and to others as we live out our daily lives of faith. God touches us through others. Likewise, God touches others through our presence to them just as Mary brought God to her cousin Elizabeth through her presence and through her words. Let us pray that God may open our eyes, our hearts, and our hands to the stirrings of God in our lives, especially in the ways he comes to us during Advent and Christmas.
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