Saturday of the Third Week of Advent
I’ll admit that I feel a bit intimidated approaching Luke’s Gospel today because it famously recounts the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to Mary. I guess we might all feel small as we’re confronted with this awesome visitation and work of God in a humble young woman. I encourage you to spend time slowly reading, contemplating, praying with and meditating upon this text today. Allow the Lord to speak a fresh word to you from his Word. For this reflection, I’ve chosen to focus our attention on Gabriel’s words, “Do not be afraid, Mary . . .” May God give us comfort, assurance, and hope today as we place our trust in him.
No human escapes fear in this life. We all are afraid at various moments and during challenging circumstances. We face acute fear and chronic fears. It’s the chronic fears that plague us – fear of the future, fear of the unknown, fear of a challenge, fear of things we perceive in our culture, society, and the world. Anxiety comes when we anticipate a threat, either real or imagined and succumb to chronic fear. If we’re honest, we all live in fear and experience anxiety to some extent; some of us more than others.
Wherever you find yourself today on the spectrum of fear and anxiety, hear the Angel’s words, “Do not be afraid, Mary.” There is a popular saying that in the bible, God says, “fear not” or “do not be afraid” 365 times (once for each day of the year)! This is not accurate, but the hyperbole does highlight the reality that God in fact gives us this exhortation over 100 times in the sacred scriptures. God, in his merciful love, repeatedly speaks these words of assurance to us because he has compassion for our weakness. In fact, love is the antithesis of fear! God is love, and as we grow to trust in his goodness and in his unfailing love for us, we feel a deeper peace. Imagine your fear shrinking and withering under the warmth and brilliance of his love for you. You might take a moment to sit with that image.
God has a plan and purpose for each one of us that flows from our unique vocations. Just as God gave Mary a divine summons, a Spirit-filled assignment, God appears on the scene of our lives from time to time speaking a word of direction or re-direction. In these moments, we often feel afraid and uncertain. Sometimes God’s invitations feel daunting and overwhelming; often the personal risk seems too high; many times we feel ill-equipped. What if I can’t do this, what if I fail, what if the consequences of obedience require a sacrifice I feel unwilling to make . . . what if . . .? “Do not be afraid, Mary.” Any time the Lord comes to us with a summons to exercise our discipleship in a unique way, we, too, can hear the merciful and gracious voice of God, “Do not be afraid, [your name].”
During this season of Advent, and as we wind down the Jubilee Year of Hope, we do well to wait upon the Lord with hopeful expectancy. The theological virtues are faith, hope, and love. St Augustine described them as dispositions – through the Holy Spirit we have the ability to dispose ourselves to the things of God. Exercising faith is to dispose oneself to believe God – to trust God and rely on him as the foundation for obedience. Charity is the disposition to share God’s goodness with others and by so doing to reflect the God whom we love. Christian hope is the disposition to rely on God’s goodness. Pope Francis described hope as the fuel to our fire that keeps us moving forward. When God issues a challenging summons that kindles fear within us, let us be reminded, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love” (1 John 4:18). God, in his goodness, only wills and acts for our good. Even when God’s call feels scary, we can trust that our loving Father will never lead us into harm and that his presence will accompany us every step of the way. That is what it means to exercise hope – to trust in God’s goodness no matter what. Our Blessed Mother demonstrated that virtue so beautifully in her Fiat.
Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word.” May we receive abundant grace today to trust God more and to give him our generous YES to his call for our lives.
I’ll see you in the Eucharist,
Elizabeth Wells