Believe the Promises

A reflection for the 4^th Sunday, Advent Year C. The readings are Micah 5:1-4a, Psalm 80, Hebrews 10:5-10 and Luke 1:39-45.

“Blessed are you who believed that the word spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”

Mary is blessed for many reasons, but today, let’s consider the fact that she is blessed because she believed the promise that was made to her. She believed the word.

If you’re like me, you have a hard time believing things until they happen; maybe I just don’t want to be disappointed and I don’t want to spend too much energy on something that hasn’t happened yet.  Recently, I received two words that I didn’t really believe – not until the last minute.

First, we heard that our Archbishop would be elevated to the College Cardinals. Immediately I thought that we, as Salt + Light Media should be there. It’s a historic moment and this guy could one day be pope.  I sent an email to our management and got no response. Then two weeks later we heard that there was a delegation going from the Archdiocese of Toronto and that Salt + Light Media would be part of that delegation. I would be part of the delegation. I didn’t really believe it until I was sitting in the plane on my way to Rome.

The second word I received was from the assistant to the pope’s Master of Ceremonies, whom I know because we worked very closely together when we were planning the Papal Visit to Canada in 2022.  I told him I was going to be at the Consistory in Rome and that it’d be nice to meet for coffee one day. Then a few days before going to Rome, I asked jokingly, if they needed a deacon for the Mass. His response was, “Sure, come to the rehearsal on Saturday at 9:30 in the morning.” I could not believe it! I can tell you that I didn’t really believe it until I was at that rehearsal.

 And I’m sitting there, vested as a deacon, in St. Peter’s Basilica, on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – not really believing it. This is the mother ship! The art and the architecture and the sculptures… and the liturgy: there were 100 Cardinals, I don’t know how many bishops, dozens of priests; five deacons; four Masters of Ceremonies, two choirs… it was the mother of all liturgies. It’s easy to think that this is where we find God. I was struck this time by all the people who knew I was going to Rome who asked me to pray for them while I was there… as if the prayers at St. Peter’s Basilica are better or more powerful than the prayers from your small town. As it God is more present at the Vatican than anywhere else.

And I was thinking about that because today’s first reading from the Prophet Micah tells us that the Messiah will come to little out-of-the-way Bethlehem, too small to be among the clans of Judah. Everyone else thought that the Messiah would surely come to Jerusalem, to the Temple; that’s were God is. No one thought that God would come to Bethlehem – we think that God comes to Rome, to the big Cathedrals and amongst the big liturgies; no one thinks that God comes to our little parish here in small-town Ontario.

And then I thought of Bethlehem. I’ve been to Bethlehem twice (I love my job!). The first time I went, we were there for a day and spent most of our time at an orphanage and at a school for deaf children.  Don’t get me wrong, God is very much present at the Church of the Nativity, but  God is just as present in that orphanage and in that school.  The second time I went, we spent a week at the Holy Family Hospital, which has the only neo-natal unit in the region.  I can tell you that I found God more so among the halls of that hospital, among those heroic doctors and among parents of those sick babies than at the Church of the Nativity.

And that’s what I love today’s story about the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth. Mary is blessed because she believes. She doesn’t wait for a confirmation email, have to do research or consult, or has to think about it or ask permission. She says what the second reading from the Letter to the Hebrews tells us: “Here I am. I come to do your well. ” She hears her name and she says, “fiat” : “Be it done unto me according to your word.” She believes the word spoken to her. And in that moment, she conceives.  That is the moment of the incarnation. At that moment, God becomes flesh in her womb; she is filled with Christ and what’s the first thing she does? She doesn’t go to the Temple to offer thanksgiving or she doesn’t go on a pilgrimage to Rome to be with the pope and with the College of Cardinals… she goes to spend time with and help her elderly cousin, who is also pregnant and needs help. She is filled with Christ and she goes with haste – she wastes no time – she goes…. When she arrives, she brings Christ and Elizabeth (and John) are filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with joy.  And then what happens? We don’t know, but we can imagine that for the next three months, there was a lot of late night conversations over pots of tea, lots of baking cookies and sharing recipes; lots of chatting, laughter, eating, shopping, cleaning, playing board games, drinking eggnog, going through photo albums, telling family stories, drinking wine, going for walks… all those things that we do when we go visit a dear cousin during the holidays.

And that’s where God is – not just in the big Cathedrals and glorious liturgies, but also in the small, mundane, insignificant, ordinary moments of our lives: In the Bethlehems of our lives.

Advent and Christmas are seasons that the Church gives us to remind us that Christ came, Christ is coming, Christ will come and that Christ is here, He is near. Not just at this time of the year, but always. God is in your life.

But we forget.

If you’re struggling to find God in your life, let’s learn some lessons from Mary and Elizabeth today.

First, believe the promise that has been spoken to you.  Maybe you think you don’t even know what God has promised you… but you do know; you go to Mass every Sunday: God promises us eternal life, salvation, freedom, reconciliation, healing and wholeness; He promises us the fullness of joy and abundant life. Do you believe it? And if you struggle to believe it, ask Mary to help you. Maybe you think like Elizabeth, “who am I that the mother of my Lord would come to me?” Maybe you don’t think you’re important; you think you’re insignificant and ordinary – remember God came to Bethlehem. Mary goes to Elizabeth and when we ask Mary to come, she comes in haste – there’s no delay and she always brings her son with her. Mary comes to us and brings us Christ and we are filled with the Holy Spirit – because the Holy Spirit always comes with Mary, her spouse (with whom He is “one-flesh”). We are filled with the Holy Spirit and we are filled with joy.

 And then you, insignificant and ordinary you, can be blessed, just like Mary, because you also have believed that the promises that the Lord spoke to you would be fulfilled.