Sunday Mass will resume at FDU on Sunday January 27 at 5:00 p.m. and at 7:00 p.m.
[ Micah 5:1-4 a | Psalm 80 | Hebrews 10:5-10 | + Luke 1:39-45 ]
[__01] The relationship of the Mary to her
relative Elizabeth is highlighted, spotlighted in this Advent Gospel.
This is the
relationship of 2 mothers, 2 expectant mothers.
Mary is mother of our
savior,Jesus. Elizabeth is the mother
of his herald, of the prophet, John the Baptist.
Both Mary and
Elizabeth have been called by God in unusual circumstances, both are asked to
make sacrifices.
In Mary’s case, the
sacrifice includes – in the short term – her own well-being, given that she and
Joseph are not yet married.
Mary does not have
legal protection for herself and her child.
And, while Mary helps
Elizabeth, to visit Elizabeth, Mary herself is helped – affirmed – by this
visit, by the words of Elizabeth.
“Blessed are thou
amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of the thy womb, Jesus.”
[__02] In his book, Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis asks about the discernment/decision
process when we have competing – even contradictory -- desires within
ourselves.
For example, our
Blessed Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary is faced with a decision a question
when she is asked to be the mother of our Savior.
It is the same
question any of us would face in a significant decision or commitment –
- Do
I keep what I have?
- Do
I give away what I have?
Often, these choices
are polar opposites, in one case, my bank account or assets go NORTH. I receive
or gain something.
In other case, my bank
account or assets go SOUTH. I give away or lose something of value.
[__03] In the parable of the Good Samaritan,
perhaps, the Good Samaritan paused to wonder -
Should I help? Or,
should I keep walking past the man who is beaten and lying by the side of the
road,in the shoulder of the Palisades Parkway or Garden State Parkway? Or,
someone pushed to the margin in our own school, or home?
The point of C.S.
Lewis is that we are always taking multiple choice exams, always making choices.
And, sometimes, we are
not simply choosing between what is purely good and what is purely evil. Sometimes, we are choosing between 2 good
things.
C.S. Lewis makes the
point that – in all of these things - we
are choosing to follow what is good and what is naturally good for us.
Lewis makes the point
that you and I do not decide what is good. We are simply using our free will to
follow the good.
[__04] Lewis uses the example, a scientific example.
A rock will fall through space to the earth at a specific velocity.
This is viewed as a
“law”, the law of gravity, the law of constant acceleration, the law of
physics.
The rock cannot choose
to break the law. Falling through space at a constant acceleration, the rock is
simply doing what all rocks do, in free fall.
The rock follows the
good, follows the way to the earth.
[__05] And,
when we choose, when we make a decision to love we are also not deciding what
is good. We are not making a decision
that, say, an education at this college is better than an education at that
college. We are not judging the
college.
We are, rather, simply
listening to God’s call about what is good for us.
Or, we might also say
that we choose a school, job, career based on what we give away. By this, I
don’t mean that we automatically choose the one with the highest tuition.
But, rather, we might
choose the one that would present the greatest challenge, the one that will
make us who we really are.
The choice comes from
within us, but the good we choose is something toward which we are always
moving closer.
Parents – mothers and
fathers – and teachers – do this each day for their children. They choose to
direct their children – even lay down their lives for their children – to
protect them from harm, to choose the good at all times.
And, as we saw
recently, there are teachers who do this quite naturally, choosing the good – even
it means giving away absolutely everything that they have.
[__06] The result of our decision or the effect of
our decision connects to what is good and to who is good, God as Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
Choosing the good
connects us to God’s natural law, as natural as gravity leading toward earth. Or, in the case of
Mary and Elizabeth – and in many of those in our lives --
as
natural as the gravity of one person laying down her life for another. [__fin__]
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