In these last days of Advent, we hear how God prepared everything for Jesus’ birth. Mary surrendered herself to the will of God and her part in the history of salvation. Her openness to life went far beyond just accepting motherhood, it included an openness to all that would come from being the mother of the Redeemer and being a part of God’s plan. This openness produced in her a deep sense of joy and hope.
Our current culture rejects life and tells us we are the focal point of our egocentric world. This worldview reduces everything to our own felt needs resulting in a very small world. That selfish worldview produces all the sadness, depression, and despair so common in the modern world.
At that announcement of pregnancy, Mary is full of joy. That joy moves her to go in haste to serve her cousin Elizabeth who is also pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary’s time of waiting is a time of service and a time for proclaiming and sharing joy. She could have concentrated on herself, taken time to rest, or centered on the famous cravings and whims of pregnancy. Mary’s arrival at Elizabeth’s house produces even more joy. The two women burst into songs of praise for God and John the Baptist full of that joy dances in his mother’s womb.
Renouncing ourselves and becoming part of God’s plan produces profound joy and urges us to service. That is to share with others our joy and to announce the presence of God in our lives. This is a true Christian Advent, that time of waiting of the Redeemer’s arrival, waiting with joy and actively serving others.
Our modern culture has constructed a time of waiting in December that is self-centered and full of preoccupation for ourselves. This tends to produce more sadness, sin, despair, and depression. Mary and Elizabeth were centered on God’s plan: joy and service. This is our life as Christians: thanks to the presence of the Redeemer in our lives we wait united in joy and service.
Mary set out in those days
and traveled to the hill country in haste
to a town of Judah.
Image: https://goodnewsshared.wordpress.com/2016/12/21/daily-verse-reading-luke-139-45/