Good afternoon / morning. There are moments in our lives that leave us breathless, when the world stops moving and time seemingly slows down. For my wife and I, around this time ten years ago, we suffered the loss of our child to a miscarriage. We could not breathe. The world stopped moving. Time had stopped. We asked God the same question that Mary asked the angel of the Lord, in today’s Gospel: “How can this be. . .?” However, unlike Mary's reaction at the Annunciation that was filled with wonderment, ours was from a place of suffering. Christmas is supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, but it was not so wonderful for us that year. I am grateful that Theresa’s parents made the trip to spend Christmas with us. Their little girl was hurting. And while we were coping with our loss, we received a letter in the mail from the Bishop of Austin. We wondered to ourselves, did we get accepted to start Diaconal Formation? Or could we handle more “bad news”? We held our breath as we opened the letter. We read it. We wept. We held onto each other. Most of all, we clung onto God, secured in his love for us.
Turmoil and turbulence do not take into consideration what time of the year it is or how often we have had to deal with them in our lives. When they happen, they leave us asking each other and God: “How can this be. . .?” A father who has lost his job and cannot find work; he is asking himself: “How can this be. . .?” A mother who sees her child struggling with their identity and not knowing how to help her child; she is asking herself: “How can this be. . .?” A husband and wife who are growing apart and do not know what to do to save their marriage; they are wondering to themselves: “How can this be. . .?” Children struggling to keep up with school work, while trying to fit in and, perhaps, having to deal with bullying; they are thinking to themselves: “How can this be. . .?” Families with loved ones who are sick or dying, trying to do their best to comfort their loved ones and support each other; the question weighs on their already burdened hearts: “How can this be. . .?”
We pray. We ask. We listen. But the silence can be deafening to us in the midst of turmoil and turbulence. This is a pivotal moment for us. . . how is our faith? Do we hope in God’s mercy? Do we trust in God’s love? The truth of the matter is, sometimes there is no answer to the question: “how can this be. . .?” Guess what? THAT IS OKAY. What we CAN do in times of turmoil and turbulence is. . . we look to Mother Mary. And in that tender moment, we come to Mary as we are - tired, broken, hurting, and lost. We unite our “How can this be. . .?” with her “How can this be. . .?” and, secured in God’s love for us as favored sons and daughters, we put our faith, our hope, our trust in these loving words that the Father sent the angel Gabriel to tell Mary and us: “Do not be afraid. . . nothing will be impossible for God.”
Let us turn our eyes to the Advent wreath. Each lighted candle on the Advent wreath symbolizes the message of HOPE, PEACE, JOY, and LOVE that the angel of the Lord delivered to Mary and Joseph. The angel Gabeiel said to Mary: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” Mary might have been confused by the message of the angel but she was secured in God’s love. Her faith told her to trust that “nothing will be impossible for God.” The angel of the Lord said to Joseph: “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21). Joseph might have been angry when he found out that his betrothed was with child. But he was secured in God’s love. His faith told him to trust that “nothing will be impossible for God.” And so we ask ourselves. Are we secured in God’s love for us as His favored sons and daughters? Does our faith tell us to trust that “nothing is impossible for God”? “Do not be afraid,” Jesus tells us.
And just as Mary and Joseph had to prepare themselves for the birth of their Son on that first Christmas day, we too must prepare our hearts for this Truth of Christmas: that “once in our world, a stable had something in it that was bigger than our whole world” (C.S. Lewis). We must BELIEVE that “something” is bigger than the turmoil and turbulence in our lives because, “[for] us men and for our salvation,” our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ “came down from heaven.” We come together at Christmas to celebrate the Incarnation - the greatest love story in the history of the world. John the Evangelist wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. . for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life” (1:14; 3:16). The Incarnation is God’s “revelation of the mystery kept secret for long ages. . . made known to all nations. . . through Jesus Christ” (Romans 16:25). O come, Emmanuel!
This is the feast we have been waiting for with a bated breath this Advent. These past few weeks of Advent, we have been on a journey to come to the manger and be in the presence of LOVE, wrapped in swaddling clothes and resting in the arms of Mother Mary. We have been preparing ourselves for this moment by listening attentively to the homily message series on how to stay close to God in turbulent times, secured in God’s love for us. Let us take these messages to heart and apply them to our lives. Let us prepare for Christmas with thankful hearts. Let us find peace in God through grateful prayers and time spent in Adoration before his Real Presence in the Eucharist. Let us be filled with joy that is rooted in simply knowing in our hearts that God is merciful and that we are favored sons and daughters of the Father. And, during times of turmoil and turbulence, let us listen to the angel of the Lord who tells us: “Do not be afraid. . .” and stay close to God, holding on to his garment, even if we are clinging to a thread, secured in God’s love for us and knowing that “nothing will be impossible for God.”
I want to close my homily by sharing with you excerpts from a message by Saint Bernard, in praise of the Virgin Mother, with my own reflection intermixed therein.
Saint Bernard writes: “The price of our salvation is offered to you. . . Tearful Adam with his sorrowing family begs this of you, O loving Virgin, in their exile from Paradise. Abraham begs it, David begs it. . .”
We are sinners in need of a Savior. Our hope is in Jesus Christ because St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus teaches us that ”we should place heartfelt trust not in ourselves but in the infinite mercy of a God who loves us unconditionally. . . The sin of the world is great but not infinite, whereas the merciful love of the Redeemer is indeed infinite.” May we be secured in the merciful LOVE of God and place our HOPE in Him, even in the midst of turmoil and turbulence.
Saint Bernard continues: “The angel awaits an answer. . . We too are waiting, O Lady. . .”
Pope Francis encourages us to “be in this world a ray of that light which shone forth from Bethlehem, bringing joy and peace to the hearts of all men and women.” Secured in God’s love for us, we can experience supernatural JOY and PEACE in our lives and share it with others, even in the midst of turmoil and turbulence, because it comes from God.
Saint Bernard concludes: “This is what the whole earth waits for. . .” [silence]
Mary said [to the angel of the Lord], "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word."
Heaven and earth can breathe again. We can breathe again. . . God is with us. . . Mother Mary, thank you for your Fiat, your “Yes” to God. Let us pray: Hail Mary. . .
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