As
we near the end of the Advent season and prepare to enter the final days before
Christmas, we turn our attention to Luke’s account of Mary’s preparation for
the birth of Jesus. Mary expresses
shock, joy, confusion, and acceptance as she hears the news from the Angel
Gabriel. These emotions expressed by
Mary give us a more personal sense of the human birth story that we are about
to celebrate.
What
is striking is how Mary ponders what she has just learned. How does this aspect of Mary’s personality
help to shape Jesus as he grows up, and the manner in which he refuses to act
rashly and conventionally through many of the situations he is confronted with
in his ministry? Her pondering and
respectful questioning in the face of a very confusing and challenging
situation contrasts greatly with the belligerence displayed by Ahaz in the
first reading. Ahaz is certain that he
knows what is right and refuses to consider the new ways that God may be
calling him in his life. Perhaps we also
have to let go of this stubborn resistance that Ahaz displays as we prepare
ourselves during this holy season of Advent, as we prepare ourselves for the
coming of the Lord. And perhaps we need
to embrace and emulate the way that Mary is able to ponder the challenges that
confront her. What are some of the ways
that we can more fully be like Mary, the handmaid of the Lord? Perhaps this echoes the sentiments expressed
by the psalmist, and perhaps this will help us emulate Mary’s example of faith:
Let the Lord enter, let us not seek what is in vain, let us seek the face of
the Lord, let us recognize that he is king.
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