Greetings and blessings to all of you. Most likely, for many, it may seem like Christmas is already here. And that’s ok.
The Gospel for this week is the Annunciation of Mary – the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary that the Lord is inviting her into a great mystery.
She heard the words, “Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you...Behold you will conceive and bear a son and you shall name him Jesus. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.”
Imagine this happening to you
Can you imagine the Lord inviting you into a great mystery? Just imagine this happening to you. What a crazy thing to hear! How would you have responded?
With those words, her world, her life was turned upside down. Not only the world within her, but the world around her. God completely disrupted her plans in inviting her to become a partner in salvation. Obviously this experience would not only affect her life, but it would affect the life of the whole world. God’s power would break anew into the world in a way not seen since the dawn of creation.
The mystery of grace
In the Book of Genesis, the spirit breathed life into creation. The angel says to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you.” That same spirit which breathed the world into creation would now breathe a new creation in Mary, and by virtue of this new creation, the whole of humanity will be renewed, forgiven and reconciled to God. The sin of Adam and Eve would be reversed by Mary’s “yes” to this partnership with God. This is the mystery of grace.
Perhaps we can think about this in a different way.
In a sense, this whole story is not so much about Mary, although she is a major character. She was to play an important role in the history of salvation. Really, this story that leads us to the celebration of Christmas is about God and his deep and profound love for us.
Healing and comfort to a world that was and is in desperate need of love and mercy
As we approach Christmas, like Mary, the Lord is inviting you and me into a great mystery – a mystery of grace – the mystery of the Father’s desire to share that love for us. At the heart of this mystery is God’s “YES” to sinful humanity...it is God’s “YES” to the brokenness of the world. He sent Jesus to bring healing and comfort to a world that was and is in desperate need of love and mercy.
As we look at what’s going on in our own world, we see a world living in fear. The coronavirus pandemic is still at large; many people are unemployed, and more and more people are living in poverty.
We see a world plagued by sin and division. More people find themselves in depression and misery than ever before. But our Divine Physician was born to us; a Savior was given to us for times just like these that we live in now.
Our human experience is to question everything; to trust only what we see; to accept only what we experience, and to seek the greatest comfort by controlling as much as possible.
Give up complete control
What we could learn from Mary today is to give up complete control, to trust in God’s eternal “YES” for us, and like Mary, to say “YES” to an intimacy that may turn our world upside down.
In doing so, together we too will form a dwelling place for God on earth where others can find God’s presence. Then we too, will become a partner with God in the role of salvation. This is the mystery of grace.
I invite you, in these next few days before Christmas, to take some time to pray and reflect upon, not so much what Mary did, but what God desires to do for you and in you, and what He has already done for you.
We would also do well to ask Mary to help us prepare our hearts for Jesus’ coming….because her role is to lead us to Jesus and to bring Jesus to us.
Better than anyone else, she knows the gift we are to receive.
May God Bless You All.
Bishop Robert Gruss
CLICK HERE FOR MORE PRESENTATIONS AND HOMILIES BY BISHOP ROBERT GRUSS
Audio Recording Below
Subscribe to Our Podcast (download audio recordings) Using Links Below
This allows you to download and/or listen to any of these recordings anytime. Many people listen to podcast episodes, using an apple or android device while at home, while driving and more- just like radio. Subscribing means you automatically receive new episodes.