Do the Right Thing...for the Right Reason

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb. Lk 1:41

While Mary's visit to Elizabeth seems like a natural and kind response from a young woman to an older relative who is pregnant for the first time, it is much more than that.  In going to visit Elizabeth, Mary risked her reputation in the Jewish community.  Though Luke's gospel does not explicitly say that Mary traveled alone, neither does it say she went with anyone else, and the only women who traveled alone in  the ancient world were prostitutes. If indeed she traveled alone, we are presented with a young woman who was so filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, and so committed to her "yes" to God that she does not care what anyone else says about her.  When Elizabeth tells Mary that John the Baptist leaped in her womb when Mary greeted her, Mary knows even more deeply that her role, however muddy, is of God and she will not and cannot veer from the path set our for her.

In these last days of Advent, we are praying for an ounce of Mary's courage so that we might let go of our reputations, fears, reluctance and timidity to announce the Good News with power and joy.  God lives in us, dwells among us and will never abandon us.  Though we rarely have the clarity Mary enjoyed, we surely share her questions.  How can this happen, she asks the angel?  The answer Gabriel gives her is for all.  "The holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God." (Lk 1:35) If we can believe this, not only will Christmas be different, our lives will be changed in ways we could never have imagined.  Begging us not to be afraid, God is inviting us to be transparent witnesses before the entire world of God's reign.  The work God wants to do in and through us is God's work, not ours.  Our fidelity to prayer, listening, service and love, especially of our enemies, will be God's sign of hope for all.  "Don't be afraid," the angel says, God's spirit is even now overshadowing you, making all things possible.

Today, on the darkest day in the Northern hemisphere, be a light for someone living in the shadows, not for your own satisfaction but for God's glory. Do the right thing for the right reason.