December 8/Second Thursday of Advent
Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.”
~ Luke 1.38
Luke does not tell us exactly what Mary is doing when the angel Gabriel appears, but artists from the Italian Fra Angelico in the 15th-century to the British Pre-Raphaelite John William Waterhouse in the 20th-century typically portray her in quiet reflection, an open book nearby. Whether she was elegantly poised in solitary reverie — an improbable scenario, given the exigencies of daily life for the poor in ancient Israel — or interrupted in the midst of carrying the water or grinding the flour, Mary is receptive to this unexpected messenger. She stops what she is doing and gives Gabriel her full attention. She listens, reflects, questions, listens some more. And then she accepts the plan for her life as Gabriel has laid it out, despite not fully understanding its mystery. Simply, humbly, she surrenders her life to God, her obedience embodied in Luke’s apt use of the passive voice — “May it be done to me according to your word.” It can be hard to say “yes” to an open-ended call; much safer to close the door on the risks of the unknown with a firm “no.” We have many dreams and ambitions for our lives; might God’s call not get in the way? We have many responsibilities already; might God’s call not interfere with those? We are comfortable with our routines and fixed way of life; might God’s call not disrupt them? Thomas Merton wrote, memorably, of the “wonder of being brought by God around a corner and to realize a new road is opening up perhaps – which He alone knows. And that there is no way of traveling it but in Christ and with him.” This, Merton concludes, “is joy and peace – whatever happens.” On this feast day of Mary, let us round that corner with Christ, and travel a new road – whatever happens.
Lord of all creation, Give me the courage to let it be done to me according to your word and your will. Amen.
To hear the Tudor Consort sing “Conceptio tua,” by Peter Philips, click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFjXR620_CY *
For today’s readings, click here: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/120822.cfm
- English translation: Your conception, Virgin mother of God, announced joy to the whole world:
For out of thee arose the Sun of justice, Christ our God:
Who, by paying for evil, gave blessing;
and confounding death, gave life everlasting.
