Gospel Reflection For the Fourth Sunday of Advent and Christmas, December 2023

by Fr Brian Maher OMI

Gospel Reflection for Sunday December 24th 2023 | Fourth Sunday of Advent

Let me begin with two quotes, from two different people with radically different backgrounds.

Firstly, Mahatma Ghandi, Indian mystic and activist who said, “Love is the strongest force the world possesses, yet it is the humblest imaginable.”

Secondly, Albert Einstein, possibly the greatest physicist who ever lived, who, in a letter to his step-daughter, said, “There is an extremely powerful force that, so far, science has not found a formal explanation to. It is a force that includes and governs all others and has not yet been identified by us. This universal force is LOVE.”

These two men shared nothing in common – culture, religious belief, education, career, etc. – yet, their experience and understanding of Love is the same; it is the strongest force the world possesses.

All of us know the power of love in our lives. It can be the unselfish love of a mother or father, the generous and patient love of a grandparent, the companionship of brothers and sisters, the trusting bond we form with a ‘soul friend’, or it can be the passionate love we have for a partner, the joyful and bubbly love we experience when young, or the silent love of a couple who have spent a lifetime together. All of these are expressions of love, each is an aspect of love, yet none of them capture the actual reality of love. This ‘universal force’, this ‘strongest force the world possesses’ always just eludes us.

We spend our lives searching for it. We ‘fall in (and out) of it’. We ‘make it’. We are ‘smitten’ by it. We can be ‘head over heels’ in it. With St. Augustine we might say that “our hearts are made for it, and they will not rest until they rest in it.” Of course, for St. Augustine ‘Love’ and ‘God’ were interchangeable. Interestingly, for Einstein they were also interchangeable, “For love we live and die. Love is God and God is Love.”

The Feast of Christmas, the coming of God to dwell with us and as one of us, is the feast of the ‘universal force’ spoken about by Einstein; it is the feast of the “strongest force the world possesses” spoken about by Ghandi. When we look into the eyes of the tiny child lying in the manger we are, quite literally, looking into the eyes of Love. But it is not human love, with all its blemishes and weaknesses, but the Love of God, which is without blemish or weakness. A Love so perfect that it IS God.

There are some mysteries which are so far beyond our imagining that even thinking about them is exhausting. Christmas is one those mysteries, perhaps the greatest of them. We can say the words, “God is Love”; we can reflect on them, acclaim them in music and poetry, share them with others, even in a tiny way understand them, but when all is said and done we will still find that the child in the manger is a mystery to us.

Why? Because the very idea of our God, who created all that is in the Universe, wanting to share his/her life of eternal Love with us, is simply beyond us. And because it is outside our own experience of love, we struggle to accept that it is possible.

And what a pity that is! It is the cause of unbelief for so many sincere and wonderful human beings, and it has led over the centuries to so much anger, debate and argument. How ironic it is that it is the nature of Love which has led to so much fighting!

The writers of the Book of Genesis had a deep understanding of human psychology. The ‘sin’ of Adam and Eve, we are told, was of seeking for themselves “the knowledge of good and evil.” They wanted to be God, knowing and understanding everything. Put simply, it was the sin of Pride – of wanting for themselves something that was beyond their nature. It was what caused their ‘fall’ and led them to so much unhappiness, doubt and confusion.

The same sin, pride, is still present in all of us. We still want to be God and try to be God. Far too frequently we feel that we ARE God, greater than others, with more knowledge and understanding, more learning, more ‘letters’ after our name, more social standing. And it all leads, inevitably, to emptiness, unhappiness and dissatisfaction. The reason is simple; we are trying to be what we never were created to be. We are creatures, not Gods. Loved creatures, created in the image and likeness of God, but still, always, ‘created’.

We were created in love, and by Love (God). We have within us the ability to love, the desire to love, in fact the need to love. We also carry within us the ability to be loved, the desire to be loved and the need to be loved.

Our happiness and our joy is found when we stop thinking that we are, in some way, the all-important source of love, and happiness and success, and knowledge, and simply allow ourselves to be who we were created to be – eternally loved creatures with whom God wishes to share his/her life of Love.

How difficult it is for us to accept this. Pride is deeply ingrained in all of us. We can call it our ‘original sin’ or whatever we like, but it is very definitely a clear and present danger in all of us. Some of the great mystics of history talked about finding God in such simple terms – For Teresa of Avila happiness and peace was no more than ‘gazing upon’ God. St. Ignatius of Loyola made ‘surrender’ to God his prayer and greatest desire. St Paul’s paradoxical statement, “when I am weak, then I am strong!” understands how God is found in surrender. On the cross Jesus’ prayer, “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” is the prayer of ultimate surrender to God.

When we look into the crib, when we look at the simplicity and serenity of the scene there, when we look into the eyes of the child and see the innocence and vulnerability, the poverty and helplessness, we are looking into the eyes of God. In the figures of Joseph and Mary, on their knees beside their son, we see their acceptance of that love…their surrender to that Love.

In this Sunday’s Gospel St. Luke is faced with an impossible task, trying to put into words how it came to be that God entered into our world, and lived among us, for the most part hidden and unknown, for about thirty-three years. He tells us a beautiful and wondrous story. It is a Love story in two parts:

Firstly, the mystery of the Love that is God. This part is beyond us. No matter how hard we try, we will never truly understand why our God would want to come to us and invite us into his/her life.

Nor did Mary understand it. From the moment the angel appeared to her she was “greatly troubled” and “afraid”. Her question to the angel, “But how can this be, since I am a virgin?” sums up her confusion and her fear. And make no mistake, her troubles and her fears were well founded.

It is easy for us to look back at the events and see that all worked out well, but as it was unfolding Mary had no idea what would happen. She was to conceive a child outside wedlock and live with the shame and gossip which would inevitably follow. Herself and Joseph had already exchanged vows and were, in law, married, but practical matters, like dowry, property, etc. meant their union was not yet consummated and they did not live together. Mary was now faced with the unbearable task of telling Joseph she was pregnant. She knew that he would feel betrayed and angry and might well divorce her (in fact Matthew tells us that this very nearly happened: “…and Joseph her husband, being a just and righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly to shame, planned to send her away and divorce her quietly.”). To say that she was ‘greatly troubled’ has to be a huge understatement!

And then we come to the second part of this Gospel’s great Love story. Mary’s response,  “I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” This shows us Mary’s strength, courage and a deep and most profound faith. We say it was her “Yes” to God, and that is correct, but it was also her prayer of ‘surrender’ to God. She responds to the Love that is God in the only way possible and that is simply to accept it, surrender to it.

This beautiful Gospel tells us all we ever need to know about Love – both the Love of God and human love.

The love of a God who chooses to become one of us, to live with us, and ultimately to die for us. In the face of that Love we are lost. We can only gaze at it in absolute wonder.

Mary’s love is expressed in the only appropriate way a human creature can respond to God’s Love – she simply accepts it for what it is – she surrenders to it. In doing so she makes possible the coming of God’s Kingdom among us. As the angel promises her, “…and his Kingdom will have no end.”

Truly we are blessed creatures. We have a God who Loves us and shares that Love with us. Understanding how and why is beyond our imaginations.

But because we can’t understand it does not make it untrue.

Our appropriate response, indeed our only response, is that of Mary – humble acceptance of such a gift and surrender to it.

In that surrender Mary found the peace and joy and strength she needed to bring God into our world.

This Christmas, look into the silence of the crib, wonder at the Love you see there, and simply surrender yourself to it. No more is needed from us – no work, no penance, no words – just surrender.

Have a very blessed, happy and joyful Christ-mass.

Many thanks,

Brian.

If you have any comments, questions or thoughts on this scripture reflection, please feel welcome to email me at b.maher@oblates.ie

‘I am the handmaid of the Lord’