“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste.” These words begin our Gospel today. And speaking of “haste,” and as it is so close to Christmas, I would wager most children wish they could have Christmas come with great “haste,” like, right now!!!
This week will certainly be the most hectic week of the year; finishing the shopping, preparing the meals, finishing the decorating, and the cards and gifts, the list is endless. We can certainly feel the pressure and the “haste” with which we will have to accomplish all that we have to get done before Christmas. And so it may also be the case, that we have not reflected much on, and so have not finished, our more important spiritual preparation for Christmas....maybe we are thinking, “I’ve got to get to confession this week!” Hopefully, this is what we are thinking if we have not yet made it.
We have to admit that many of the things we do this week will have to be done in haste if they are going to get done at all. But before we panic, let us again remind ourselves of what the season of Advent is all about and what; or should I say, Who we are really preparing for. Our Advent season is a time of expecting Christ to come, not only liturgically at Christmas, not only spiritually more deeply into the crib of our hearts, and not only at the end of the world or the end of our life which ever comes first, but also expecting and preparing for His second coming right here at this holy Mass and at every Holy Mass. For it is here, at Holy Mass, that Jesus comes again no less in the flesh than He did on that first Christmas night some two thousand years ago.
To help us prepare, in what little time we have left, today in our Gospel, we discover that our Lord often comes to us through a big surprise. In today's Gospel, we hear the account of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Elizabeth—the encounter of the two expectant mothers. For the two of them, their encounter was something that was not planned or even expected; it was a big surprise.
The surprise actually began when Zachariah the priest was offering the sacrifice in the Holy of Holies and St. Gabriel appeared to him, announcing that Zachariah and his wife Elizabeth would have a son in their old age (Not to mention that Zachariah even being chosen as the High Priest to enter into the Holies of Holy was a big surprise. Out of the tens of thousand of High Priests, it was improbable that one would be chosen in one’s lifetime). What a big surprise that must have been to see an angel, must less, St. Gabriel. In fact, poor Zachariah was so surprised he couldn't even believe what the archangel was telling him. After all, Elizabeth, his wife, had prayed for so long for a child, but remained barren and now was way past her child bearing years.
Yes, it was a big surprise from God, but Elizabeth had indeed conceived a child. So surprised was she, that she actually went into seclusion; you'd could almost image how embarrassed she must have been conceiving at such an old age. But there in seclusion, she was in for another big surprise from the Lord, when her cousin Mary came to visit. Mary too was with Child. And because of Mary's Child, surprisingly, the child within Elizabeth's own womb leaped for joy, as John the Baptist was sanctified, made holy, by the Christ Child while the two where still in their mother’s wombs. How big a surprise all of this was.
God had exceeded their wildest dreams and had fulfilled His Holy Will in these surprising events. In them, we discover that the heart of Elizabeth was open to the great surprise of God. After experiencing the surprise of the first Eucharistic procession, as Jesus was carried in to the presence of Elizabeth by a living monstrance—the Blessed Virgin Mary herself, Elizabeth exclaimed, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” In light of the surprises of God in today's Gospel, we can only imagine about all sorts of surprises that God is capable of doing in our own lives if we are open like Elizabeth.
As Christmas nears, we can all think about the big surprises we have had in Christmas' gone by And we all look forward, especially us who are kids at heart, for big surprise to come this Christmas. And even more we hope to surprise those we love with a special gift in order to show them how much they mean to us and how much we love them.
We, in our last days before Christmas, have the opportunity to be surprised, not only by our families, but by our Blessed Lord. Because He loves you so much, Our God this Christmas wants to give you as well, a big surprise. His surprises however, come in ways we are not expecting. In fact, they come in the ordinary and even in the mundane events of everyday life.
God’s surprises come in the darkness and the quietness of a womb; and in the darkness and quietness of a stable cave. His big surprises comes to us in a tiny little ordinary poor babe, who is at the same time the Almighty God truly among us as one of us. And finally, His biggest surprise of all comes to us at Holy Mass as apparently ordinary words are spoken over ordinary bread and wine and that same little babe of Bethlehem is born anew on this sacred altar--the bread and wine transformed, through the miracle of transubstantiation, into Emmanuel--God still with us—Jesus truly present in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity.
Perhaps because it was so ordinary, most people missed the birth of Jesus some two thousand years ago and so missed the biggest surprise of our God. So many sadly continue to miss His coming again at every Holy Mass. And so, the question is, are we prepared for the big surprise God wants to give you this Christmas and at every Holy Christ’ Mass. Is our heart open to receive it…Him?
It not's too late, there is still time, but let us make haste!!! Oh the surprises that Our Good God has in store for those who believe, adore, hope and love Him in the Holy Eucharist!!! It is the greatest surprise of all, the greatest gift of all, because it is the gift of Himself. May we accept more fully this gift by offering more fully the gift of our own heart in return—for this is the true meaning of the Holy Mass and of Christmas—it is meant to be the ultimate exchange of gifts, God’s heart gifted to us and ours gifted to His…in fact to be open, as was Elizabeth, to the Heart of Christ really means to offer our heart in return to Him—in other words, our hearts are only open to the gift of the Heart of Jesus to the extent that we trustingly and lovingly offer our hearts in return.
Let us turn to the Virgin Mother to help us. Holy Mary, Mother of the Christ Child and so Mother of Mercy, pray for us, help us to offer our hearts totally to Jesus, may our heart and His become as one, for us and for the whole world. Jesus I trust in Thee. Amen
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