Be like Mary and trust in God is the Advent Message
By Fr Kevin Redmond SM, Assistant Priest at St Andrew the Apostle Parish, Marayong 18 December 2023
As we contemplate Mary during her pregnancy and all that she would have hoped for, or her expectations, we must admit to ourselves that we do not know much because the Biblical accounts do not give us a lot of details. The accounts in Matthew and Luke give strikingly different accounts and it is almost impossible to reconcile them.
When we think about Mary preparing for the birth of Jesus, we know little of life two thousand years ago. In terms of modern parents, we have a much better idea of those preparations, their hopes, and expectations. It would be safe to assume that Mary’s experience would have been similar in some ways, but also vastly different in others.
What comes through in the Biblical accounts is that Mary, Joseph and so many other people had great faith and trust in God. Imagine being visited by an angel. Would you have been able to say ‘yes’ (let it happen to me as you have said) to being asked to be the mother of Jesus, who was destined to be King and whose reign will never end (Lk 1:33)?
All of Mary’s plans were turning upside down and she was taking a great risk. Her pregnancy, even though it was unlike any other, was exposing her to great danger. We are told that Joseph had decided to divorce her informally, but he could have accused her of adultery and had her stoned to death.
Mary believed it to be true that nothing is impossible for God. She knew that she had done nothing wrong, but can you imagine the scandal that her pregnancy would have caused among family and friends and the wider community? To avoid this ‘talk,’ was that why Joseph was going to divorce her informally?
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The angel Gabriel used the pregnancy of Elizabeth as the illustration that nothing was impossible for God. With all the tongues wagging, Mary could be forgiven for keeping a low profile and not going out, but she knew that she could be of service to Elizabeth and so went to the hill country of Judah and stayed with Elizabeth for three months.
If the story of Mary’s pregnancy was a work of fiction, I am not sure people would be able to accept all the different challenges that she faced – there just seems to be one challenging thing after another. This is the case as Mary, coming to the end of her pregnancy, faces the reality of giving birth in Bethlehem. Caesar Augustus wanted a census and so the whole Roman world was disturbed as people had to go and be registered to their own town. We know that Mary and Joseph ended up giving birth in a stable because there was no room for them in the living space (Luke 2:7).
It seems like everything that could go wrong, went wrong for Mary during her pregnancy, but as we go through Advent, preparing for Christmas we are being invited to be like Mary and to trust in God.
Our faith does not mean that everything will be automatically easy for us or that our lives will be clear sailing, but our faith is a power and strength in our lives to know that God is with us. It helps us to live in right relationship with ourselves, with others and with God. This does not mean that we will be ‘successful,’ but it does mean that, even when we feel overwhelmed, we can know God is at our side strengthening us and turning things to our good.
Approaching Christmas, my prayer for you is that, like Mary, you may know that “the Almighty has done great things for me” and that as the joy of Christmas draws near you may know the peace beyond understanding only God can give (Phil 4:6).