Volume 8 Release No. 8
December 24, 2006
Fourth Sunday of Advent
| Gospel Reading (Luke 1:39-47) In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, 40 where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit 42 and exclaimed with a lout cry, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me? 44 For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. 45 And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.” 46 And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, 47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, |
"Blessed are you who believed that the Lord's word would come true."
That was how Elizabeth was inspired to see as the root of her cousin Mary's blessedness (or, being set apart from all women) - her steadfast faith in God.
A story I read a long time ago aptly illustrates this: Just minutes before landing, an international flight ran smack into a mighty storm. And the strong winds were throwing and tossing the huge Boeing 707, as if it were an empty cardboard box. All in the plane were in near-panic, even the dozen or so stewards and stewardesses, who couldn't disguise their fear as they tried to comfort and secure their wards. All except a little girl who sat in her corner, calmly reading a book, seemingly unperturbed by, or even unaware of the danger they were in.
After what seemed like eternity, the pilot was finally able to control the plane and land it safely. It was only then that the little girl looked up from the book she had been reading. A stewardess, who had been observing the child, approached her and said to her, “You read your book through the horrible nightmare we had just gone through. Were you not afraid we would crush?" "No, I was not afraid. My father was piloting the plane" she smiled, "and he always lands it safely home!"
I guess that is what faith ultimately means - letting go of the need to be in control, and enjoying being in the safe hands of a trusted one. Just like Mary - 'rudely' snatched, so to speak, from her youthful private life to become the Mother of Emmanuel! "How can this be" she had tried to protest to the angel-messenger, "I am too young even to 'know' man."
But as soon as it was clear to Mary that this was what God has planned for her, and that 'nothing was impossible with God', she let go of the control of her life and surrendered it totally to her God: "I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it done to me as you have said." (Lk.1-27-28).
And it was this deep faith in God of Mary rather than her being the mother of the messiah that Elizabeth was primarily paying tribute to in her joyful greeting to her cousin, “Blessed are you who believed that the Lord's word would come true!" A fact that Jesus was later to affirm and highlight to His disciples in Lk.11:27: "As Jesus was speaking, a woman spoke from the crowd and said to him: 'Blessed is the one who bore you and nursed you. Jesus answered, "Surely, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it as well!" Mary's Yes to God's Plan was Mary 'letting God be in control' in and with her life.
But if Mary's Faith meant handing over to God the total control of her life, it did not mean she was absolving herself from responding to God's control. On the contrary, letting go of control obliged her even more to respond to him and be accountable her response. For faith does not mean doing nothing. It means acting in obedience to God's will. And Jesus pointed this out explicitly when he told the woman, "Surely blessed are those who hear the word of God AND keeps (does) keeps it as well!" And at the wedding feast at Cana, Mary showed that she too understood this only too well when she told the servants "Do whatever he tells you." Believing in God means acting according to his will. Saying to God's will means doing our part that God's will is done.
It is important to remember this when we pray.
It is oftentimes said that we Filipinos are a praying nation, and that is good.
But it is necessary to remind each other often that authentic prayer ultimately aims to align our hopes and our dreams, our needs and our wants to the Will of God our Father/Mother. Biblical scholars and spiritual writers say that the Lord's Prayer (the Our Father) has in fact only one prayer, that "Your Kingdom come and that Your Will be Done on Earth as it is in Heaven". And that the rest of that prayer merely enumerates what it is that the Heavenly Father's wills, namely, a) that all will have enough food everyday, b) that we learn to forgive one another as God himself forgives each of us, c) that we do not wish cause nor cause each other any harm, but rather d) that we help each other to be delivered from any and all evil. Therefore, to pray the Our Father, i.e. to align ourselves to what the Heavenly Father wills means not only saying Amen to what he wants, but to do our part so that all that He wants will indeed happen. For, blessed indeed are those who hear the Will of God and keep it as well.
Fr. Ben Moraleda, CSsR
Spokesperson, Kaalagad Katipunang Kristyano
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