Our first reading is admittedly a bit difficult to understand. We have God telling us that the smallest, those rejected, those not in the clans will provide a ruler with ties and ancient origins. It was important in those times to trace back lineage and heritage, especially to the 12 tribes of Israel. But God wasn’t concerned with man’s law or expectations. I have realized many times in my life that He must truly laugh at those earthly expectations. That is a difficult realization, but it reinforces that God is not bound by those limits we set upon Him. Have you ever struggled with this? I know I have. Maybe we can take a moment now and reflect on how this impacts our faith.
Continuing in this short reading, we see that God “…[gave] them up, until the time when she who is to give birth has borne, and the rest of his kindred shall return to the children of Israel.” That does not mean that God abandoned them, but He allowed these children of God to suffer and be changed. These changes in hindsight were to help them prepare for the greatness of His son Jesus. Once Mary gave birth to Jesus, they were to remain in His greatness forever. So many times in my life I have suffered. I have seen things that made me question how this can be allowed by God. During those times, I could not see the changes God was making in me and those around me. Most times, I can now. Have you ever experienced or felt like this? Especially during Advent, how can we show God we trust Him and whatever His plan is for us?
Our Psalm reminds us over and over again to turn to Him. It calls out that we are suffering and long to see His face to be saved. It is us begging for new life in Him and we will call His name. Yet we can rejoice in this suffering as He has come. He was sent by the Father for us to be one with Him and never again be withdrawn from Him.
This second reading really makes me realize that the ways of man are not the ways of God. Yes, we are all worshipping Him, but we are earthly and get caught up in things of this world, such as sacrifices and offerings. We occasionally allow those things to restrict our growth and understanding of His love and prevent us from imitating His love. Jesus came to take this all away. He invites us to follow as His example and shows us how to love. How does this reading speak to you? Does this help you prepare to recall His coming into this world?
Today’s Gospel gives us the great example of saying yes to God, best exemplified in Mary. I love this passage in Luke as it shows Mary rushing to serve her cousin Elizabeth in her pregnancy. Mary served God by serving others. During Advent, how have I prepared myself and increased my service to others? Maybe we can say a few extra prayers to Mary to help us increase that service to God through serving others.
Neither woman should have been pregnant. Both were miracles in their own respective right. Elizabeth was barren, yet to what restriction on earth is God bound? That sounds almost comical when I read that out loud, God being restricted by earthly things. Even the baby growing inside Elizabeth knew Mary and Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit and leaped for joy. How does this speak to you this Advent season? What restrictions are you facing that you can stop worrying about and give up to God?
The final line “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” Doesn’t that include us in a way? We have not seen Him with our eyes, but we hear the Word with our ears and find fulfillment in that Word spoken to us. This makes my heart want to leap for joy. I don’t need to restrict myself to things of this world and I don’t need to worry. I can be free in knowing that God’s will be done and, in service to others, I am serving God. That alone carries me through any struggle and makes a crushing weight easy for me to bear.
~Ray Martinelli