Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
As we enter into the final days of preparation for Christmas, we are presented with two types of fear– a holy fear of the Lord and a prideful fear of losing earthly power.
In her great Magnificat, Mary sings of the greatness of the God who “has mercy on hose who fear Him in every generation.” Mary would have known well the song of Hannah that we have for today as the responsorial psalm.
Hannah stands clearly among those who have feared the Lord in every generation and Mary, too, has been placed in that line by God. In Hannah, Samuel’s mother, we have what Scripture scholars call a “type” of Mary, that is an Old Testament figure who foreshadows in a significant way a New Testament figure. Hannah sings her song of praise because she was thought to be sterile, a deeply humiliating situation for a woman in her times, yet the Lord blesses her with a child, lifting up one who is despised by society. Repeatedly throughout the Old and New Testaments we have stories of women thought to be sterile who give birth to prolific and holy children: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Samson’s mother, and Elizabeth. These women, seen as inadequate to perform their motherly role in society, are repeatedly chosen by God to play a key role in His work of salvation.
In the gospel Mary’s song is confirmed by the fear of King Herod who orders all of the baby boys slaughtered in an attempt to snuff out the King of Peace, who’s work is to “cast down the mighty from their thrones.” Herod’s fear is of a different kind. He fears the loss of his power. Threatened by a potential challenge to his throne—a new king of the Jews—he acts out of fear by slaughtering those who have come to be called the Holy Innocents.
As the days of Advent wind down, who do we most easily identify with? The poor in every generation have feared the Lord? Or those in power, who fear the loss of their power? More importantly, our celebration of Christ’s birth demands that we stare in the face those things we do that protect us from the strong arm of the Prince of Peace. How are we inhibiting Jesus’ vindication of the poor? How are we more interested in our own comfort and safety? Let us prepare our hearts by finding one way to continue the work of Jesus who “lifts up the lowly,” so that we too might sing of the greatness of the Lord and His promise.
-Tim Gabrielli