IV Sunday of Advent, Cycle C

Mi 5:1-4a
Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19
Heb 10:5-10
Lk 1:39-45

Growing up, one of the most nerve-wracking things I have ever had to do was calling a girl that I liked in junior high.  I finally got her number and I was going to call her to ask her out.  We didn’t have texting or email – I had those old rotary phones that felt like it took a whole minute to dial 7 digits.  Palms sweaty and heart racing – I even had to write out some things to talk about on a piece of paper if and when my mind blanked.  I was really excited, but also scared and nervous too.  What if she said ‘no’ or my plans didn’t work out? There was so much riding on this call.  First call: “Hello?”, Click.  What if her Mom or Dad picks up or her brother? Oh this is not going to end well.  Second call: “Hello?”, Click.  Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea, I think I’m going to play video games and read books for the rest of my life.  That seems like an acceptable life choice right?  Third call: “Hello?” “Hi… “  I had her on the line and we talked for what seemed like an eternity.  I didn’t even ask her out… too nervous – I had her on the phone, while spoil a good thing right?   It was probably the most awkward conversation ever and we talked about absolutely nothing – I think it was about homework or something. Needless to say, it was not the best first attempt.

Although my first phone conversation with a girl was a rite of passage for all men, I think I remember the feeling afterwards more than the feelings before and during.  I was so excited that I sprinted around the house about ten times, literally jumping for joy, and then messed/tortured my little brother for a victory lap.  I couldn’t sleep the whole night.  It. Was. Awesome.

I am sure you have felt this kind of joy and excitement before.  When you first find out someone likes you, when you decide you want to get married, when you get the job that you really wanted, when you have finally moved into your dream home, or when you hold your child for the first time.  You wake up in the morning and the sun just shines a little brighter, the birds chirp a little happier, and life is just beautiful.

When we hear of Mary setting out in the hill country in haste to find Elizabeth – this is exactly what she is doing: the Good News lifts her up and sends her off.  When Elizabeth hears Mary’s greeting, Elizabeth cries out in a loud voice of joy.  The infant in her womb also leaps for joy.  The depths of her very being leap for joy.  It is in those moments of intense joy that the Holy Spirit moves within Elizabeth and her unborn child and she proclaims: Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  

In this statement we hear the familiar words of the “Hail Mary”, but I would like to reflect on the following passage: And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  Here Elizabeth speaks a profound truth:  “the Mother of my Lord” – is a powerful theological statement.  Announcing that Mary is indeed bearing the Son of God and is indeed the Mother of God – the unborn John the Baptist knows it, Elizabeth knows it, and certainly Mary already knew it.  Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant – the Promise of God fulfilled in her womb, goes to Elizabeth and Elizabeth is humbled before her.  Elizabeth is older, John the Baptist is older, but they recognized that Lord has come into their midst.  And just by God’s very presence, the people around Him are dramatically transformed and filled with joy.  And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  

We are too small, too sinful, and utterly insignificant to be regarded as worthy of receiving Him.  What have we done to deserve God’s favor?  All we have done was to do what we were supposed to do.  The good that we do, seems only to help us “break even” in terms of our sin, but because of Christ we have something a whole lot more.  God has looked down on us and shown us His favor by His love for us in sending down His Son.  He comes to us in His smallness as predicted in the Book of the Prophet Micah: from the little town of Bethlehem comes one who will stand firm, shepherd His flock, showing His greatness to the ends of the earth and bring peace to all – He is peace.

How blessed are we that the Lord should come to us every day in the Holy Eucharist.  As we hear in the letter to the Hebrews, Sacrifices and offerings, holocausts and sin offerings, you neither desired nor delighted in.  Jesus Christ, our sacrifice and our offering – though God desired not, was prepared for us, so that we may do His will.  We would not have the Eucharist without the Passion and Sacrifice.  We would not have the Sacrifice of Christ without the Incarnation of Christ, and without all of that, we would not have salvation.  If He did not come, we would not have a relationship with Him, we would not be able to receive Him, and we would be forever steeped in the darkness of our own sin, suffering and, misery.  And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?  

Do we live in that kind of humility?  Do we live in the sense that our heads are bowed down in unworthiness before God for all of His goodness and beatitude?  Or we live in the mindset that God is our ATM, our genie in a bottle that will grant our every wish and completely taking Him for granted?  Are your hearts moved with joy when you are in His presence?  If they aren’t, then maybe that is something that you need to ask for before you ask for anything else.  The lack of joy is not because He is not there, but because we are not fully prepared to receive Him.  In these four weeks, how have you prepared to receive joy?  If you haven’t, this is the time to start.  The joy that you will have with Him is tremendous – this is the Christmas spirit: the anxious anticipation, the preparation, and finally the fulfillment of something that was promised since the beginning of time.  All of Creation has been waiting for the perfect time of Redemption in the Incarnation.  Let us earnestly prepare for his coming.  The time to prepare for His coming is NOW.  Let us be humbled and honored that He would want to come to us – and when He comes may we be filled with humility and joy: And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?