12-20-20 - 4th Advent - Fr. Leo

4th Sunday of Advent - Fr. Leo

In preaching today’s gospel of the Annunciation of Mary, the focus is usually placed on Mary’s words at the end, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” Mary’s ‘yes’ to God is a model for all of us, and reflecting on her all-encompassing ‘yes’ as a young, unwed but betrothed woman, calls us to give our whole selves to God.   

It is hard for us to imagine what Mary, and also Joseph, went through as they followed God’s will.  From the moment of the Annunciation on, both of their lives were sent into a direction they would never have dreamed of or chosen.  Like Jesus, there were times when they literally had no place to lay their heads.

As this gospel reminds us of our call to give our whole selves to God, we need to remember what makes it possible to be so faithful to God.  This is where we need to embrace earlier words in today’s gospel passage.  The words of the angel to Mary, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”  Only through the Holy Spirit can we recognize God’s voice from deep within us.  And only with the gifts of the Holy Spirit can we be faithful to the life God calls us to.  

Our ‘yes’ to God is the work of the Spirit who speaks in the ground of our being and calls us to share in the divine life of the Trinity. Only sharing in the sometimes challenging life of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will we come to recognize that our lives are God’s, and that God’s life is ours.  May we all reach that unitive life to which God calls us.  And let us pray for the grace to live our ‘yes’ to God that is deep within us, but first let us pray for the grace to believe the Spirit of ‘yes’ is in us!  The Emanuel we long for has come and has been incarnated into us that we too may give birth to the presence of God. We are chosen, the Lord is with us!  Amen.