Fourth Sunday of Advent
There is a word I have come to love – availability. It has been part of my contemplation in reading today’s scripture and preparing this homily. I like how the word sounds. It has a ring of positivity, of hope, and of optimism. It is a happy word. Availability has meaning for me because, as pastor of five parishes, I have been very conscious and conscientious about my availability to people. I have strived to not let the administrative demands of multiple parishes and schools overtake my role as a priest, friend, intercessor, and counselor. People come to me and say, “I know you are very busy. I didn’t want to bother you.” And that bothers me. I do not want people to think that I am too busy to pray for them, too busy for their concerns, their journey, their thoughts.
On the fourth Sunday of Advent, I would like to reflect on availability.
Mary’s Radical Availability
Mary personifies availability. At the annunciation, Mary made herself available to God in way that no human person had even done. I call it Mary’s radical availability. There were risks associated with her radically availablity to God. Her engagement to Joseph was at risk. If Joseph had taken another direction, Mary could be stoned to death. Her parents, her reputation, her personal conveniences… she risked everything to be available for God. If that was not enough, she rushed to Elizabeth to be available to her. And then, all her life she remained radically available to God.
This fourth Sunday of Advent, Mary is modelling availability. If Mary was not radically available to God, there would never be Christmas. Today, this is what we learn from Mary – that the more radically we are available to God, the more Christ becomes real for us. Incarnation, the Word becoming flesh, is the result of Mary’s radical availability.
Challenges to Availability
Availability depends on many things – time, presence, desire, willingness, and the complexities of life. A single parent’s availability to others is going to less in a home with both parents, not because of desire or willingness but because of the complexities of life. A person who is ill may be less available than a healthy person for the same reason. There are two things here – the ability to be available and the desire to be available. If we have the ability to be available, then cultivating the desire to be available is where we are called to imitate Mary.
Mary models a kind of availability that is beyond the conveniences and complexities of human life. Saying to the angel, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done according to your word,” was not convenient. In fact, her availability made her life immensely complicated. And then, instead of getting caught up with her own pregnancy, she looked beyond herself and visited Elizabeth. There is a sacredness, a holiness, an awesomeness in her availability.
For those of us who have the ability to be available, the biggest challenge to availability can be self-sufficiency, complacency, and convenience. We are called to worship God not only when it is convenient. We pray not only when it is convenient. We offer service to humanity not only when it is convenient. We are kind not only when it is convenient. We go out of our way only to help others not only when it is convenient. We must be careful that self-sufficiency, complacency, and convenience do not become obstacles to Mary-like availability.
Availability is an Act of Faith
The most important thing we learn from Mary is that availability is an act of faith. Mary became radically available to God but she had no idea where it would take her. And we know it led her to the cross. But in an act of uncompromised faith, she remained available to God from the tomb to the womb.
Availability may sound good. It may have a ring of positivity, hope, and optimism to it. But availability is not easy for two reasons. First, the ability and the desire to be available to God and one another must come together despite the complexities of life. Secondly, availability comes with its share of uncertainty. We have no way of knowing where our availability will lead us. This is why availability is an act of faith – because availability calls for uncompromising faith in God and undaunted faith in the goodness of humanity.
Today we don’t merely ask ourselves if we are available to God and others but also to examine our faith. Is our faith such that it helps us to be radically available to God and to one another?
At every Eucharist, Christ is available to us. He was available in the manger, on the cross, and now in bread and wine. That is radical availability. And… what about us?
- Fr. Satish Joseph