4th Sunday of Advent Reflection
Mary and Elizabeth are depicted in a 15th-century oil painting by Piero di Cosimo. The title of the painting is “The Visitation with St Nicholas and St Anthony Abbot.” In the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, God reveals his great plan of salvation, not with a big bang or parade, but in the quiet, patient waiting of two vulnerable women, Mary and Elizabeth. (CNS photo/courtesy National Gallery of Art)
Recovering the Joy of Blessedness – 4th Sunday of Advent – (Luke 1:39-45) –
Tuned to the Source are those who live by breathing Unity – their “I can!” is included in God’s.
When last have you leapt for joy? The final Sunday in Advent and in a further few short days Christmas will be upon us! Yet, many of us may feel harassed and overwhelmed by preparations and expectations, not even pondering the present crises with its ‘many griefs and anxieties’ afflicting the human family and the rest of creation.
A terrible pandemic and catastrophic climate change have aggravated our experience of frailty and vulnerability, fuelled by weakened spiritual values, the anger of entitlement, a diminished sense of responsibility, and an impoverished spirit of solidarity.
No, we no longer leap for joy recognising the wonderful gift that each and every one of us is to each other and our world. We no longer leap for joy at the wonder of creation. We refuse to look into the darkness lest our frailty and vulnerability overwhelm us. Joy has left us; this is the great burden we carry for the terrible disconnect we have chosen; the failure to love.
Without the foundations of God who is Love, there can be no true Love, there is no blessedness, only phantoms, and illusions, a romantic performance. This was the vision of St Francis as he went through the little town of Assisi wailing, “Love is not loved”.
We face the challenge of an inward journey of discovery; the reconnection not only with the ‘God with us’, but the reconnection with ‘God within us’. At the very core of our being, we can come to recognise once more God’s Spirit, the Breath of God, and the Rua that animates us and all of God’s creation.
Working through the darkness, we come face-to-face once more with the Holy Wonder and awe at the wonder of our being. It is from this point that we can once more recognise our natural affinity towards good. It is also from this advantage point that evil is exposed for what it is. It is here we stand ready for the super-natural moment of God’s Love pouring into our hearts and out into the world.
This is our light-work on this last leg of our Advent preparation; to recognise the little vulnerable child that came to us at Bethlehem; a little child that continues to come to us. Then we also can leap for joy at recognising ‘God with us’ who is at the same time ‘God within us’.
This is the blessedness of Mary that scripture affirms will forever ring through the ages. This is the blessedness and joy that must serve others, as Mary does. This is the blessedness that must find us also ‘leaping for joy’… even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In Love, God predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of God’s will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. (Ephesians 1:4-6)
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