We are nearing the end of our Advent journey as we celebrate the 4th Sunday of Advent. We’ve heard from different prophets and messengers during Advent, helping us prepare a path for the Lord. We have heard from prophets such as Isaiah and John the Baptist during these weeks of Advent. Today, we hear from two special prophets: the Angel Gabriel and our Mother Mary. As we think about the Advent call to joy and hope, the Gospel of the Annunciation is a fitting message for us today on this last Sunday in Advent.
What insights can we learn from the Annunciation in the midst of our Advent journey? First, we realize how we look at Advent and Christmas knowing how it’s all going to turn out: that it is a story that changed the world in its day and continues to change the world in our own day. However, Mary did not know how things were going to turn out. In fact, she was troubled by the message brought by the Angel. Even so, Mary listens to what he had to say and she pondered these things in her hearts. Often, in our own lives, when we’re trying to discern God’s will or when we’re trying to decide the right thing to do, we don’t know how things are going to turn out. In the reality of the pandemic we have been living out in our own lives since mid-March, we don’t really know how and when the pandemic is going to end. Thinking about Mary’s story, we recognize that we are not alone. We recognize that like Mary, we respond out of our faith.
Let us look at what Mary did, pondering those things in her heart. We live in a world where we’re rushed and where we need an answer as quickly as possible. We don’t want to wait. We don’t want to ponder and reflect. We want it now! Mary and Joseph had plans and dreams, desires. They had expectations of how their life together would unfold. But, what God asked of Mary put those plans and dreams into disarray. After pondering these things in her heart, Mary answered: How can this be? I have had no relations with a man? How can I be with child? Yet, after further pondering and further listening, after being told that nothing is impossible with God, Mary answers: Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Behold, I am God’s servant. We all need time to ponder and to listen to God. If we don’t make time, then we can get caught up in our busy day, not recognizing the voice of God that calls out to us. Each year at St Jude, we try to make time in our busy lives to have retreats. Those who have attended our retreats get a lot out of them. We priests are required to go on retreat each year, to recharge hearts and our faith. All of us are called to spend in prayer: to reflect and to ponder God’s voice calling out to us.
That leads me to the third insight I take away from our Gospel today: God is both immanent and transcendent. He is both a reality that exists in our world, but that he is not confined or defined by the world. I look at the spirituality I am called to as a diocesan priest. I am called to pray, to study, and to reflect. I am called to practice the devotions of our faith and to lead the faithful in those devotions. I am called to seek the divine that is beyond my human understanding. But I also cannot neglect the reality around me. We are called to live out the values of the Gospel, to practice justice, and to reach out to our neighbor. We are called to proclaim the Gospel message in the way we live out our lives. We are called to fully participate in society and to read the signs of the times to quote the Second Vatican Council. We are to see God as both immanent and transcendent – not to exclude one to the detriment of the other. In fact, the prayer after communion on Wednesday of this past week, proclaimed that through our partaking of the Eucharist, we pray that we are to wisely judge the things of this earth, and to hold fast to the things of heaven, emphasizing both the immanent and the transcendent. The season of Advent calls us to welcome the Christ child into our world and into our hearts, the child called Emmanuel, which means “God is with us.” The Virgin Mary looked at the reality of her world, but she did not limit God to that reality. In that way, she was able to understand God’s call.
Mary is an important part of the stories of both Advent and Christmas. But she is also more that a figure out of Scripture. As I am a convert to Catholicism, the richness of the Marian tradition and theology of Mary in our Catholic faith has been an important part of my journey, especially now as a priest. Back in October of 2013, Pope Francis celebrated the final apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary’s appearance at Fatima. He mentioned today’s Gospel, the way Mary chose to say yes to being the Mother of God, the Mother of our Savior and ultimately our Mother. Pope Francis consecrated the whole world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He asked us to invoke Mary's intercessions, calling upon Mary to help us to be open to God's surprises, to be faithful to him each and every day, and to praise and thank him for being our strength. May that be our prayer today on this last Sunday of the Advent season and every day.
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