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Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Advent of Faith

(Adoration of the Shepherds- van Honthorst, 1622)

When the angels went away from them to heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
"Let us go, then, to Bethlehem
to see this thing that has taken place,
which the Lord has made known to us."
So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph,
and the infant lying in the manger.
When they saw this,
they made known the message
that had been told them about this child.
All who heard it were amazed
by what had been told them by the shepherds.
And Mary kept all these things,
reflecting on them in her heart.
Then the shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them.

- Lk 2:15-20

There is much that can be said about the short verse, "And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart." There is much that has been said about that verse.

Yet, I believe it does call for further reflection, or perhaps it is better stated, ongoing reflection, considering that the Blessed Mother is indeed our prime example and model for how we are to anticipate the birth and coming of Our Lord.

For some, Advent can be a more "joyous" occasion, as is witnessed by the shepherds in the Gospel. What then, of Mary's reaction? Is it not in contrast to the "glorifying and praising" of the shepherds? Perhaps it seems hard to interpret the account in any other way, but I believe it is not in adherence with the whole truth of the faith to argue that Mary was not joyous, or not "glorifying and praising" - certainly, she must have been the most joyous and grateful of all! St. Louis de Montfort includes in his reflection on Mary during the twenty-third day of preparation to Consecration to Our Lady that she is "the most grateful of creatures."

What, then, is to be understood of this quiet and internal reflection?

First, I would consider that there is a contrast made between proclamation and reflection, though not in the negative. Consider how the message passes on; it is the angels who declare this good news, this divine revelation, that Christ is born; it is then the shepherds who carry this great news with them, and recount what they have been told; it is then "all who heard" their message that are amazed, and the shepherds who continue to go forth to announce the good news. However, Mary, the Mother of Christ, reflects on these things in her heart.

One observation that can be made is that Our Lady already knew that the Son she gave birth to was Christ! Mary has been told by the angel who announces to her that she is "blessed among women" that she will be the Mother of Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. She has lived with the Word of God growing in her womb for nine months. This is not to say that it diminishes her joy or zeal or gratitude for the truth, but rather, that the truth takes root in her heart in a way that is more mature than those who have just heard the good news.

Christ gives us the parable of the seed that falls on various types of ground, and therefore either takes root and grows to bear fruit, or is killed by various failures in the seed taking root and growing. In Our Lady, the seed that was planted was placed in such fertile soil that the fruit that was borne was literally and physically the Word of God! There can be no better or more realistic example than the Blessed Mother for what it means to allow the seed, the Word, to be planted and to grow within us.

Therefore, the contrast that is seen in this account from Saint Luke is an example of the first proclamation of the Word, of the first hearing of the Gospel, with what it is to take the Word into one's heart, into one's very life, and to allow it to grow and bear fruit that will remain. The Blessed Mother has, dramatically, announced the Good News - she has brought Christ into the world in the most literal way that has ever been! From that point on, the proclamation of the Good News is the work of Christ and the Church, the Church always in imitation of Our Lady, who is the exemplar evangelist in her life of faith that brought forth Christ in the world.

What does this mean for us, who desire to rejoice and proclaim the Good News, but who also may have heard the Gospel many times? If this is not our first invitation to know, love and serve Christ, and if we are familiar with the message of salvation given to all men, how do we respond to the re-proclamation of the Gospel?

The answer is of course, a both-and, a two-fold course. We must then practice what it is the be the maturing Christian and the newly-evangelized; we must be (what we are in reality) the saint and the sinner. We must be the penitent, who turns to the Sacraments often, especially Reconciliation and the Eucharist, and who prays daily for personal conversion. We must be the maturing Christian who studies the Word of God and seeks to know Christ more, day to day. We must be the person who is re-affected by the truth; who finds that internal fire is burning first and foremost for our own improvement - for a greater charity in all things - and then for the sharing of the truth with others.

As Pope Paul VI so astutely wrote, "Modern man listens more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if he does listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41). This is a summation of the both-and practice that is proper to the one who is re-affected, re-evangelized, by hearing the proclamation of the Good News once again! The practice must be that the man who has known Christ, but who once again meets him on the road, finds his heart turned once more; turned to the light, which somehow had become obscured, turned to the path, which had somehow veered on a different course, turned to the life, which had somehow been forgotten in the smoke of our world. We must be reoriented! Realigned. Through conversion, we become better witnesses, for our lives begin to reflect the truth we profess; through announcement and profession, we give a reason for the conversion we live. 

Modern man cannot live on only emotional, feel-good stories of how God has blessed us; nor can he live only on deep theological doctrine which has no practical demonstration to him: how can anyone come to love a person enough that they would desire to love them for their entire lives, if they know only what he thinks or only what he does? It will not happen. Man must be presented with both the reality that Jesus Christ has been born into our world, true God and true man, the Savior of the world, and with the truth that it is in knowing, serving, and loving Jesus Christ, in conforming to his Gospel and in living as his disciple, that we made children of God. 

Pope Benedict XVI has said that "it is not possible to speak of the New Evangelization without 'a sincere desire for conversion'" (Zenit). Let us then, with Mary as our model, recall in our own lives how we have already been given the Good News, how we have already heard the message of Salvation, which should stir up in us great joy, great gratitude, and the zeal to proclaim such mercy to the whole world - and yet, recall that this proclamation begins first with our own turning back to Christ, so that we will be authentic witnesses to the truth that we share.

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