Yes!

"May it be done to me according to your word."  Lk 1:37

In a remarkable and evocative homily about Mary's response to the angel Gabriel, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, an 11th century Benedictine and reformer, speaks for us all in urging Mary to say yes to God and yes to us. Bernard asks Mary:

Why do you delay, why are you afraid? Believe, give praise, and receive. Let humility be bold, let modesty be confident. This is no time for virginal simplicity to forget prudence. In this matter alone, O prudent Virgin, do not fear to be presumptuous. Though modest silence is pleasing, dutiful speech is now more necessary. Open your heart to faith, O blessed Virgin, your lips to praise, your womb to the Creator. See, the desired of all nations is at your door, knocking to enter. If he should pass by because of your delay, in sorrow you would begin to seek him afresh, the One whom your soul loves. Arise, hasten, open. Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. Behold the handmaid of the Lord, she says, be it done to me according to your word.(1)

Arise in faith, hasten in devotion, open in praise and thanksgiving. Bernard's challenge to Mary is actually addressed to all of us. Advent is not a time to dally or delay, not a time for virginal simplicity. It is a time to say yes without fear.  God needs to be born in us again today, not tomorrow or in the New Year.  God depends upon us in our weakness, fear and sin to accept his hand and assurance that with God all things are possible. Unless we ask for the grace of going beyond our imagination, we cannot hope to arise, hasten and be open.  With God all these actions are not only possible but necessary and Mary's yes assures us of this.  May it be done to us according to your word!

Today, even if you are living in darkness, say Yes to God. The desired of all nations is at your door.

Birth of Mary

"She was found with child through the holy Spirit." (Lk 1:18)

One of the most challenging and easily ignored aspects of salvation history is the sketchiness of Jesus' genealogy. Although very uncommon in Jewish record keeping, five women are mentioned, two of whom are prostitutes and one an adulteress.  This is no accident.  The gospels will consistently remind us that unless we think outside the box, we will miss the power of Christ's life and mission.

The gospel is about conversion and redemption.  All of us make mistakes, some of them egregious and overwhelming.  If we allow ourselves to get trapped in these mistakes than the possibility of forgiveness and transformation will seem impossible. The gospel is full of stories of forgiveness and new life. In fact,  Matthew mentions the word forgiveness 47 times. Even more important are the stories of faith and courage, the most dramatic of which is Mary's. 

Anxious and upset about the angel's message to her that she would become pregnant, she resists, and only after being reassured that her pregnancy is of the Holy Spirit does she consent to God's will for her.  But what impresses me even more is her willingness, after being reassured that God is with her, to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was also newly pregnant. No Jewish woman would venture to travel alone for fear she would be judged a prostitute, but Luke's Gospel suggests that Mary's confidence in God was such that traveling alone and being judged harshly meant nothing to her. 

Mary continues to astound us, even after the death of Jesus.  Despite the fact that the gospel's tell us that his disciples abandoned her son during his suffering and death, Mary continues to accompany them (Acts 1), and we can be sure, she will accompany us.  Mary has been given to us not only as the mother of Jesus, but our mother. The birth of Mary reminds us to depend on her not only as an icon of faith, but as a mother to whom we can always turn.

God's faithfulness

For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. (Rom 11)


God's faithfulness is the bedrock of our faith.  God will not, cannot, revoke his Covenant with us.  It is unilateral.  Unlike other contracts or covenants which are bilateral or mutual, God's covenant with us is gratuitous. God's covenant does not need to be confirmed by our willingness to accept it or live within it.  It is pure gift.


At the same time, when we remember the nature and power of God's covenants with us, especially the New Covenant in Jesus, we realize again that we are made in God's image and must strive to love others, even our enemies, as God loves us.  We love others in faith not because they appreciate, celebrate or return our love. We love others in faith to be like God. 


This is something we must practice daily.  It is rarely, if ever, easy.  But like so much else about life and faith if we don't practice it, it withers and eventually dies.  Many friends of mine, committed to getting in shape and living a healthy life, bought a simple piece of exercise equipment, and rode it, walked on it or lifted it for a week or more, but before long it found its way to a closet or the basement where even now it gathers dust, a humbling reminder of our failure to be consistent and faithful.

When we fail to practice our faith by gathering regularly with others, reflecting on the scriptures, celebrating the sacraments and serving those most in need, our faith weakens and crumbles.  All of us know this, and today's scriptures remind us to remember that God, despite our failures to live the Covenants he has made with us, remains faithful. Like the Canaanite woman in today's gospel, who keeps asking Jesus for help even when he ignores her and remains silent, God keeps pestering us in the hope that we will hear and respond to the call of discipleship.  


Just for today, go to church, read a passage from scripture, or respond to someone in need.  Practice, a day at a time, will eventually become a habit and will strengthen us for the journey ahead.


Though this blog is only a few days old, I will not post again until the end of this week because I will be on my yearly retreat.  Please say a prayer for me that I might root myself again in the advice I give to others. And say a prayer for yourself that God  might make you consistent, transparent and vulnerable in the practice of faith.