4th Sunday of Advent
Cycle B
Mary, did you know?
You’ve probably heard that popular song by Mark Lowry and Michael
Green. It pops up on the radio and Pandora this time of year, and it asks
questions that sound sensible. Mary, did you know your little boy would walk on
water? Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation, would one
day rule the nations? Did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb?
Those questions seem sensible to us because we hear them from our
perspective 2000 years after the events of Jesus’ life. We have the benefit of
2000 years of pondering and wrestling with the reality that God became man. Countless
thinkers and theologians have given us insight as to who this person Jesus was
and is, and we know all the details of his life and purpose through the gospels
and Church teaching. We know how the story played out. But Mary couldn’t see
the future. She didn’t have the complete picture. The gospels for her were her
everyday life. She had no idea how God would choose to fulfill the promise he
made to her that day through the angel. She probably had no idea what it meant
that her son would be called holy, the Son of God. She was no theologian or
rabbi. She didn’t know the particulars, nor could she make the connections. And
yet she trusted in the promise. Her cousin Elizabeth greets her later with
“Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be
fulfilled”.
And she said yes. I don’t believe she could have answered any other
way.
The angel’s greeting disturbed her. He described her as being full
of grace. A curious description, don’t you think? Have you ever heard anyone
else had that attached to their name? It wasn’t “Hail, Mary of Nazareth” or
“Hail Mary, Betrothed to Joseph” or “Daughter of Joachim and Anne”. Hail, full
of grace. We all have God’s grace in us, because grace is simply the presence
of God in our lives. Everything is grace, in a way, but Mary was full of grace.
It wasn’t just something she had, it was who she was. The Lord was with her,
but in a way different than you and me. It was as if she was invaded by the
Holy Spirit from the moment of her conception. The absence of the burden of sin
gave her a clarity of understanding and of purpose that no other human being
has ever had.
We see the invasion by the Holy Spirit and the presence of God in
people’s lives often in the scriptures. Moses with the burning bush. The
prophets Elijah, Jeremiah and Isaiah. Jesus himself at his baptism. Each time
the grace of God seems to overwhelm them and compels them forth on their
mission. The fullness of grace in Mary would naturally direct her decisions. Mary
never seems to doubt. Hers is a simple acceptance and a sense of wonder at it
all.
What would your life be like if you did not suffer the burden of
sin? What different decisions would you make? How much closer to God would you
be? How would that affect your own family? Just because Mary was conceived
without original sin doesn’t mean she did not have the capacity to sin. She was
human, after all. It was the fullness of grace within her and her closeness to
the Father that helped her to choose not to sin. That’s really not any
different from you and me. We are free to make the same choices she made.
Grace is a gift from God, and Mary had done nothing to merit God’s favor, except just be. She was favored
simply because she existed. Like we all are. God doesn’t look at what we have
or haven’t accomplished when he smiles upon us. We are all wonderful in his
eyes, and worthy of his favor simply because he wants us to be worthy. He makes
us worthy. I mean, really, what can we ever offer God in return for what he has
given us? Isn’t that the supreme arrogance?
Look
at David in the first reading. He was the greatest king of Israel. He had
conquered all his enemies and made Israel into a nation to be reckoned with. So
naturally David wanted to show his gratitude for what he had been given. But
God didn’t want David to do anything for him. In reverse, God wanted to give
David his greatest desire, a long dynasty. He wanted to give him more and more
and more.
When
we are faced with the unconditional loving gifts we are offered by God, how do
we react? Do we think, well, it’s about time. I’ve been praying for years and
years and have lived a holy life. Of course God favors me. Or are we like Mary,
completely stunned that God has even noticed us? Perhaps you feel especially
worthless this year. Maybe you’ve lost your job or someone close to you has gotten
sick or even died. Just because God favors us doesn’t mean life will be easy. Just
because Mary was without sin doesn’t mean she would not suffer. Jesus was also
without sin yet he still suffered as a result of sin in the world. Both Mary
and Jesus made the choice to follow the Father’s will, just as we all do.
Mary
was full of grace because we are all full of grace. Mary was favored because we
are all favored. What made Mary extraordinary was that she was ordinary. She
did nothing to deserve this. We can do nothing to deserve what we receive. God
did not ask her if she wanted this. He just stated that it would happen. He
didn’t even ask her for her reply. She just gave it. God knows what is good for
us, he cannot give us anything that is not good, so why would he ask our
permission to give us anything? And we are not called to give him our
permission, only our acceptance of his many gifts.
So,
did Mary have full knowledge of what was happening to her and what that meant
for the salvation of the world? Who knows? It really doesn’t matter. What
matters is that Mary, like us, made a decision to follow the will of God given
her particular level of faith and the grace that had been given her. In that
way we are just like her.
It
is interesting that in the week just before we celebrate the fulfillment of
God’s promise of salvation in the incarnation we revisit where that promise was
first given to a young girl, close to God and full of grace. This was the week
that Mary had been anticipating those long nine months. It was all about to
come true.
Mary
said yes, and nothing would ever be the same again. Her life was changed
forever, and so was ours. “Blessed are you who believe that what was spoken to
Mary by the Lord would be fulfilled”.
