Back when I was a young priest, about a hundred years ago or so, while
I was associate pastor at St. Mildred Church in Somerset (Kentucky), I designed
several large banners for the church. Banners were very popular back in the
1970s. The people seemed to appreciate most of them, but one of them raised
more than one old lady's eyebrows. It pictured a very pregnant Mary, sitting in
a rocking chair deep in meditation, her arms folded carefully over her swollen
abdomen. I was trying to capture the words of the gospel in the Annunciation
story: “Mary was deeply troubled by the angel's words and pondered what his
greeting meant.” I tried to imagine Mary sitting there in her chair trying to
figure out what her surprise pregnancy meant and where her life would lead.
After all, she was an unwed mother in the eyes of the Jewish law of her day.
Well, the banner was considered a bit blasphemous in the eyes of some of the
very pious. l stood my ground and it went up every Advent while I was there.
The people finally got used to it and many came to love it.
In the first chapter of Luke, Mary is called “blessed” no fewer
than three times, once by the angel Gabriel and twice by her cousin Elizabeth
in today’s text. “Blessedness” is not all it’s cracked up to be! It’s certainly
not all peaches and cream, not by a long shot. Mary was granted the blessedness
of being the mother of the Son of God. Because of the blessedness, her heart
was filled with a mixture both joy and sorrow. It was almost as if she could
smell a rat! Her blessedness became a sword piercing her heart. It would lead
someday to seeing her son hanging on a cross, spit on and despised by a mocking
crowd.
To be chosen and blessed by God has its ups and downs. It means
great joy and it means great sorrow. Ask anyone who has ever had such a call
from God! Ask Peter, Paul, John the Baptist, any of the martyrs, Theresa,
Augustine, Joseph, Abraham and Sarah, Jeremiah, Jonah or Isaiah. Ask any of the
millions of parents, priests and sisters – anyone who have been called by God
for some special task. The raw truth is that God does not “choose” a person for
ease and comfort, but to “use” that person for his special designs and
purposes. To be “called” by God is a scary adventure. With that honor and
privilege comes awesome responsibility. Nowhere can we better see the paradox
of “blessedness” than in the life of Mary. She had the joy of being the mother
of the Son of God but she also had to face the ridicule of her neighbors, the
possibility of being abandoned by Joseph, the disappearance of Jesus for three
days when he was a boy, the possibility that he had lost his mind when he was a
young rabbi and, finally, his cruel and tortured death when he was a young man.
Mary was “blessed” alright. However, the gospels honor her not so
much for her unique and privileged position as “mother” as for her total trust
in God no matter what! “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to
you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” As the privileged mother we can admire
her. As one who totally trusts God, in good times and bad, we can emulate her!
Like Mary’s “blessedness,” this holiday season will, no doubt, be
a confusing mixture of joy and sadness. I have heard story after story of happy
engagements, heroic generosity, new families being reunited, reconciliations
among old enemies, beautiful celebrations and jobs found. I have also heard a
lot of sad stories about unemployment, terrible sickness, old people in nursing
homes who cannot die, broken marriages, family fights and auto accidents. In
fact, for me, being “blessed” by God means being in a position to be able hear
and absorb these stories. One minute I will get a letter from a parishioner who
tells me how much closer he or she has drawn to God because of a homily I have
given or something I have written; the next minute the phone rings telling mg
me about a newly discovered cancer or upcoming surgery. One minute I am going
to a Christmas party; the next minute l am on my way to a friend's funeral. One
morning I am stopped by someone in the street who gushes with compliments about
something I have done for them; by midafternoon I get a royal chewing out by
someone else for something I have overlooked or forgotten.
A priest’s life, much like a parent’s life, is often a blessed
life and often a pain-filled life. Many of you parents have told me about one
of your children who brought you so much joy as a child, but who now brings you
so much pain as a young adult with their addictions and bad choices. The life
of a priest and the life of a parent can often be very much alike. We can
be forced into situations where we laugh one minute and cry the next, all in a
day’s time!
Most evenings, when it all quiets down and I am alone with my
thoughts, I like to just sit down in a big chair with my journal and wonder
what it all means. Some evenings, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Like
Mary in her rocking chair in that old Advent banner I designed years ago, I
just sit and wonder what it all means and where it will all lead. Like Mary
kneeling before the angel Gabriel, I am reminded of words like, “Do not fear,”
“God is at work here," "trust God, believe in yourself and dare to
dream.”
My friends, on this fourth Sunday of Advent, the church holds Mary
up to us as a model of one who has complete trust in God - in good times and in
bad, through thick and thin. Somehow, many of us have gotten the impression
that problems, pain and disillusionment are signs of God's absence. Mary
teaches us that all our confusing mixture of joy and sorrow is actually a sign
of “blessedness,” a sign that God is indeed active in our lives and all our
troubles can eventually be turned to good.
My friends, don't let
Advent go by this year without a few minutes in a rocking chair with Mary,
pondering what the events of your life mean. Advent is a time to renew our
commitment to trust God no matter what, and patiently wait for insight into
what it all means and direction on how to proceed! When we don't have
answers is when we need to trust - to trust that God is in charge and that all
things will eventually turn out for the good.
"Blessed are we who
have believed that what was spoken to us by the Lord will be fulfilled."
