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A
Response to Change History
December
21-22, 2002
Fr.
George Smiga
Luke
1:26-38
"Let it be done to me according to your Word." The
history of the world turned on that line. All that God planned
to do to save us, the gift that divine love wanted to give
us hung on Mary's response, on her willingness to cooperate.
Her choice was a free choice, for Mary could have said "no".
It would have been easy to find many reasons to say "no."
She could
have responded to Gabriel by saying, "Wow! This is unexpected.
Sort of out of the blue. How long before you need my answer?
I'd really like to think about this. I know that God has a
plan, but I'm rather upset about being brought into it at
the very last minute. You might want to suggest that if God
expects human cooperation it might be good to give a little
lead time, a few months so you could think things over. I'm
sure that God would get a much better response using that
approach. And really, to tell you the truth, it's not the
best time for me. I'm really busy with the wedding and all
coming up. We still have to pick a hall and get flowers; I've
already bought the dress and it's not going to fit if I'm
pregnant. And the more I think about it, this idea of conceiving
by the Holy Spirit without a human father, it's kind of peculiar,
isn't it? I really wish God would rethink that part of the
plan. Joseph is a great guy, but I don't think he'll sign
off on that.
So why
don't we just leave it this way: first of all, tell God that
I'm very honored to be considered. But the plan is nebulous
and really not that well thought out. So why don't you take
it back and work on it a bit? Put some more detail in it,
iron out some of the wrinkles, and we'll talk again after
the wedding."
Mary could
have said "no", but she didn't. What she said was,
"Let it be done to me according to your Word." Without
much preparation, with very few details, and with a lot of
things that were unsettling at best, Mary said "yes"
to God. She said "yes" because she trusted that
God had a plan and would not abandon her. Because she said
"yes", we have Jesus; we have eternal life; and
we are preparing to celebrate Christmas.
Mary is
our model, our model always, but especially our model in the
next few days. I am quite certain that in the next few days,
in the midst of holiday preparation, God will be asking us
to do some things. God will be asking us for our cooperation.
Like Mary,
God's request is very likely to come out of the blue, without
much preparation. Like Mary, the call might be unexpected,
or even unwanted. It certainly will come at a very busy time.
But unlike Mary, we should not expect an angel to announce
it to us. Therefore, we need to be watching, watching for
the opportunities that God provides, waiting for our chance
to say either "yes" or "no".
That chance
might come with a sudden twist in our plans-something unexpected
that looks like an intrusion-something our children need or
our parents expect. When that intrusion comes, we can either
complain and feel sorry for ourselves, or we can see it as
an invitation from God to be flexible and loving. We can choose
to say, "Let it be done to me according to your Word."
It might
come because we have a sadness to bear in this holiday season-a
sadness because someone we love is not with us, a sadness
because there are tensions in our family. When that sadness
emerges, we can either hold it in and let it cause anger and
depression in our hearts, or we can accept the truth that
there is a sadness that we cannot change and reach out to
others in love and in hope. We can say, "Let it be done
to me according to your Word."
It might
happen as we gather together with family and friends. Suddenly
we could be faced with an opportunity to affirm somebody we
love, to forgive someone who has hurt us, to listen to someone
who is in need. When that opportunity presents itself, we
can either choose to forge ahead with all of the other things
that we have to do, or we can stop and accept the invitation
to do God's will. We can choose to say, "Let it be done
to me according to your Word."
Mary is
our model, the model of how God chooses to interact with us.
What God does is invite our cooperation and then wait for
our response. Do not expect to see the angel Gabriel, but
watch for the opportunities. They will be there. When you
see them, be like Mary. Say "yes." Say "yes"
to God's request, "yes" to God's will. Do your part
in bringing Jesus into our world.
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