Fourth Sunday of Advent, cycle C

LUKE 1:39-45
THE KORAN IS ABOUT THE SIZE OF THE NEW TESTAMENT IN OUR BIBLE. DID YOU KNOW THAT MARY IS MENTIONED 35 TIMES IN THE KORAN? IN THE NEW TESTAMENT SHE IS MENTIONED 19 TIMES. BISHOP FULTON SHEEN WROTE AN ARTICLE ABOUT MARY AND THE MOSLEMS, AND SAID THAT BECAUSE CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM BOTH REVERE HER, SHE WILL SOMEDAY BE THE BRIDGE THAT BRINGS THESE TWO RELIGIONS TOGETHER, AND WE SHOULD PRAY TO HER FOR THAT INTENTION. THERE WAS A 12TH CENTURY MOSLEM POET AND MYSTIC, KNOWN AS RUMI, WHO WAS DEEPLY DEVOTED TO JESUS AND MARY,WHO WROTE THIS POEM, WHICH WAS RECENTLY TRANSLATED FROM THE PERSIAN LANGUAGE.
LISTEN:
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY AND EACH OF US HAS A JESUS INSIDE. WHO IS NOT IN HOLY LABOR? EVERY PERSON IS.
SEE THE VALUE OF TRUE ART WHEN A SOUL IS IN THE MOOD TO CREATE BEAUTY,
FOR THE WITNESS MIGHT THEN KNOW BEYOND ANY DOUBT, GOD IS REALLY THERE WITHIN,
SEEMING TO DRAW LIFE FROM US THROUGH HIS UNIVERSE,
THOUGH ALSO NEEDING TO BE BORN, YES GOD ALSO NEEDS TO BE BORN,
BIRTH FROM A HAND'S LOVING TOUCH, BIRTH FROM A SONG BREATHING LIFE INTO THIS WORLD.
THE BODY IS LIKE MARY. EACH OF US HAS A JESUS WITHIN, BUT SO LONG AS NO PAIN APPEARS, OUR JESUS IS NOT BORN.

TODAY THE GOSPEL SHOWS US THE PREGNANT MARY, WHO REJOICES WITH ELIZABETH, FOR THE WORK THAT GOD HAS BEGUN IN THEM. MARY CANNOT KNOW WHAT LIES AHEAD, THE PAIN THAT SHE WILL GO THROUGH, NOT ONLY THE PHYSICAL PAIN OF GIVING BIRTH, BUT THE MOMENTS OF SUFFERING, PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL, THAT WILL COME BECAUSE SHE CHOSE TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS.
ALL OF US REMEMBER THE TIME WHEN SOMEONE TOLD JESUS THAT HIS MOTHER WAS OUTSIDE AND WANTED TO TALK TO HIM. HIS REPLY SEEMS SHOCKING. “WHO IS MY MOTHER AND WHO ARE MY BROTHERS?” AND POINTING TO HIS DISCIPLES, HE SAID, “HERE ARE MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHERS. FOR WHOEVER DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER IN HEAVEN IS MY MOTHER AND MY BROTHER AND MY SISTER.” AND THERE IS THE PASSAGE IN WHICH A WOMAN CRIES OUT, “BLESSED IS THE WOMB THAT BORE YOU, AND THE BREASTS THAT NURSED YOU!” AND JESUS REPLIES, “NO, RATHER, BLESSED ARE THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT.” DOES IT SEEM AS THOUGH JESUS IS DISTANCING HIMSELF FROM HIS MOTHER? PROBABLY NOT. PROBABLY HE IS SAYING, “ANYONE CAN GIVE BIRTH, BUT THE REAL CONNECTION TO ME IS THROUGH FAITH, THROUGH OBEDIENCE TO GOD. AND MARY SHOULD NOT BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE PHYSICALLY GAVE BIRTH TO JESUS. RATHER, SHE SHOULD BE HONORED BECAUSE SHE HEARD THE WORD OF GOD AND KEPT IT, BETTER THAN ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING BEFORE OR AFTER. AND YOU AND I SHOULD RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE ALL CALLED TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS IN THIS BROADER SENSE, IN IMITATION OF MARY.
FIRST, JESUS MUST BE CONCEIVED IN US BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE FIRST THING THAT THE SPIRIT DOES IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD IS TO CREATE A LONGING FOR GOD. ONE CAN RESPOND BY IGNORING THAT LONGING, OR NURTURING IT. TO NURTURE IT REQUIRES A RESPONSE, AND THAT RESPONSE IS TO LEARN WHO GOD IS AND WHAT HE WANTS FROM ME. IT MUST BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE, AND A PART THAT WILL NEVER CEASE. IT REQUIRES DEVELOPING A HABIT OF PRAYER SO THAT YOU TRAIN YOUR SPIRITUAL SENSES TO BE MORE SENSITIVE. AND AT SOME POINT, GOD WILL MAKE A REQUEST OF YOU. YOU CAN TELL WHEN THIS HAPPENS, AND IT HAPPENS MORE THAN ONCE IN THE LIVES OF THE SAINTS AND THE LIVES OF ALL THOSE WHO ARE GIVING BIRTH TO JESUS. IT IS A TIME WHEN YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD DO SOMETHING, AND YOU REALIZE THAT IF YOU DO IT, YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE UP SOMETHING THAT IS PRECIOUS TO YOU. AND YOU ARE NOT COMPELLED, YOUR FREE WILL IS HONORED. GIVING BIRTH PHYSICALLY IS UNCOMFORTABLE EVEN IN OUR DAY AND AGE, BUT WAS EXCRUCIATING IN THE DAYS WHEN THERE WAS NO ANESTHESIA, AND WHEN WE TAKE THE ROAD THAT SEPARATES US FROM SOMETHING OR SOMEONE WE LOVE IN ORDER TO DO GOD'S WILL, THAT IS PAINFUL.
AND WHEN WE GIVE BIRTH, IT IS NOT OVER. BECAUSE LIKE MARY, WHEN WE FOLLOW GOD'S PATH FOR US, WE CAN EXPECT MORE PAIN, MORE STRUGGLE. MOTHER THERESA, IN MUCH OF HER LIFE, WAS IN GREAT EMOTIONAL PAIN, BECAUSE SHE FELT THAT GOD HAD ABANDONED HER. ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS HAD SIMILAR FEELINGS, AND DESCRIBED THEM IN HIS MYSTICAL POEM “THE DARK NIGHT OF THE CROSS”. AND WHEN WE TURN OUR LIVES OVER TO GOD WE CAN EXPECT THAT HE WILL DO THIS TO US AS WELL, BECAUSE HE WANTS TO FORM US INTO JESUS CHRIST, HE WANTS TO MAKE US FULLY HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS. AND TO BE CHRIST IS TO GO THROUGH A PASSION. MARY STRUGGLED TO KEEP JESUS CLEAN AND WELL FED, TO FORM HIS CHARACTER AND TEACH HIM ABOUT GOD AND HOW GOD WORKED WITH THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. AND MARY SUFFERED WHEN SHE HAD TO ESCAPE TO EGYPT AND LIVE AS A STRANGER IN THAT STRANGE LAND. WHEN SHE HEARD THE PROPHECIES OF SIMEON, WHEN JESUS REMAINED BEHIND IN THE TEMPLE, AND WHEN JOSEPH DIED, AND WHEN JESUS LEFT HER TO BEGIN HIS MINISTRY. AND SHE MUST HAVE SUFFERED AS THE YEARS WENT BY AND SHE WAS NEVER AGAIN ADDRESSED BY THE ANGEL WHO SET HER UPON HER PATH OF LIFE, AS JESUS WENT OUT TO PREACH, ONLY TO BE CRUCIFIED, AND AS THE SON SHE LOVED ROSE FROM THE DEAD BUT SHORTLY AFTER, DISAPPEARED FROM HER LIFE IN PHYSICAL FORM ALTOGETHER. AND SOMETIMES THE ONLY THING MARY HAD LEFT WAS FAITH, AND HER DETERMINATION TO HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT. AND IF WE TRULY IMITATE MARY, IF WE TRULY NURTURE THE CHRIST TO WHOM WE ARE GIVING BIRTH, WE WILL OFTEN SAY WITH ST THERESA OF AVILA, “GOD, IF THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT YOUR FRIENDS, IT IS NO WONDER YOU HAVE SO FEW OF THEM.”
SO TODAY, LET US REJOICE THAT GOD CALLS US TO GIVE BIRTH TO JESUS, EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT ALWAYS PLEASANT, AND SOMETIMES DOWNRIGHT PAINFUL. AND LET US HEAR THE WORD OF GOD AND KEEP IT, SO THAT WE WILL BE BLESSED. AND LET US REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR THE CONVERSION OF THE MUSLIMS, WHO ALSO HONOR OUR MOTHER MARY.