Mary's Yes
Scripture Reflection for Fourth Sunday of Advent (December 21, 2014)
Scripture Readings:
2 Samuel 7:1-5, 8b-12, 14a, 16
Psalm 89:2-3, 4-5, 27-29
Romans 16:25-27
Luke 1:26-38
Today's readings lead us to ponder: What is the Lord's house? The first and most basic answer is that it is creation itself. In our generation, science has opened our eyes to the mind-boggling vastness of the universe, and also to the almost infinite complexity of tiny details that work together to enable each created thing to function according to its appointed character. God dwells in all of this. It is one of the great tragedies of human life that so often we treat the physicality of the world cavalierly, as if it were mere stuff that is there for us to use and abuse. Yet saints, mystics, and small children will all tell us: there is wonder in every speck of dust, and every insect wing is worthy of astonishment. Truly, they proclaim, the momentousness of God is here, now, and everywhere!
It is because creation itself is God's house that God almost laughs at David when he, a mere earthly king, conceives the idea of building God a house. "Should you build ME a house to dwell in?" the Lord says. Listening to the subsequent promise to David with New Testament ears, it is as if we can hear the Lord explaining patiently: "I am the only one who is able to build a house for myself. I have been building it since the beginning of creation, and now I will really show you what I am capable of. I will let my very being manifest, in all its fullness, within creation; I will bring my very own Child to birth in your flesh - in your created earthiness. I will make the radiant light of divinity dawn in the physicality of the world."
When we look around us and see the many ways in which human beings are doing damage to the weave of creation, sometimes it is hard to remain optimistic about God's promise of dwelling in our midst. Within a few decades thousands of amazing living species brought forth by God's exuberant creativity will not exist anymore due to the devastations of human-caused climate change and short-sighted resource use. Even harder to face is the terrible violence that humans do to one another. Pictures of bombing, starvation, and torture in Syria and elsewhere make us cringe with horror. Even countries like the United States that present themselves as models of respect for human rights are found to have engaged in torture. Two thousand years ago Jesus, the beloved Child of God, was nailed to a cross by human hands, and still today the nails are being pounded mercilessly into human flesh.
Hope in the God who dwells in our midst will not last if it remains only naïve optimism that everything will be okay. There is much goodness in our world, but evil too is deep-seated and persistent. Our hope has to be in the God whose commitment to creating a divine home in creation only goes deeper when the carefully crafted fabric is torn. While we may dream of God coming down with legions of angels and setting things right, God has chosen what is actually a more direct route to the purification of creation: by entering ever more deeply into communion with human hearts, one by one.
Today's Gospel tells the story of God's approach to Mary, and her response. Mary's role was unique, yet her story is meant to be our story too. God wants to be born through us as well - not in the same way as in the stable of Bethlehem, of course, but in some way that is similarly real and world-changing within our own small corner of creation. And the secret for us, as it was for Mary, is our "Yes" to the deep interior self-gift that God wants to give us - and, in turn, wants to receive from us. This, and only this, is what really changes the world. It is in discovering this that we can begin to learn the real meaning of Christmas gifts, midnight Mass, caroling, and holiday feasting. Then, and only then, will peace at last flow forth to all in the house of creation.
This Scripture Reflection has been originally published at www.ctu.edu. © Copyright 2014 Catholic Theological Union. All Rights Reserved.
Image:Geminid Fireball over Mount Balang – Astronomy Picture of the Day © Image Credit: Alvin Wu
B.A., Antioch College; M.A., Ph.D., Catholic University of America
Professor Mary Frohlich, R.S.C.J., is a Sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart. Her research interests include mystical dimensions of “conversion of the Earth,” contribution of women in seventeenth century French Spirituality, methodological issues in spirituality, and Carmelite Spirituality. Each year at the Summer Seminar in Carmelite Spirituality, she offers lectures and workshops with a particular focus on the women of Carmel. Her publications include essays on spirituality as a discipline, Carmelite spiritual writers, and topics in ecospirituality.
Frohlich has edited two collections, The Lay Contemplative (St. Anthony’s Messenger, 2000) and St. Therese of Lisieux: Essential Writings (Orbis, 2003).
