Mary’s Example

Gospel
20 December 2009 
4^th Sunday of Advent
Luke 1:39-45

“Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.” (Luke 1:39-40)
Before the day’s end, many of us will celebrate the birth of Jesus at the vigil or midnight Mass.
For those of us who spent much of our Advent “in haste,” it is comforting to know that Mary too experienced a sense of urgency as she awaited the birth of her son. Our mental images of Mary usually don’t include her rushing about, yet she not only made haste to see Elizabeth and John the Baptist in the womb, but she also made haste to Egypt to protect her child from Herod; and I suspect when she learned of the resurrection, she made haste to tell friends and relatives too.
Today will be a day of haste for most of us. We will quickly conclude the spiritual preparation of Advent and move on to the celebration of the birth of Jesus. How can we keep this day holy as we rush to attend Mass (or Masses), prepare food, travel, organize the gifts and attend to our family responsibilities?
The life of Mary gives us many examples of “holy haste.” She is a woman who “got the job done” by focusing on God’s will moment by moment, doing what was asked of her and trusting God to take care of everything else. Her “yes” to God about becoming the mother of his son also included a “yes” to trusting God in the great adventure that followed.
To observe faithfully the fourth Sunday of Advent, we too need to follow Mary’s example of trust in God’s guidance as we make our “holy haste” toward the birth of his son.
Prayer: Thank you, God, Almighty Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for this last day of Advent and all of the graces it brings. Please fill our hearts with peace in the midst of the feverish activity around us, and let us recognize the face of your son in the people we encounter. Make our haste holy as we prepare to share the joy of this day with others. We pray for the guidance of your Holy Spirit and ask these things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.