A Beacon Of Light… Advent And Mary
By FR. RICHARD D. BRETON JR.
(Editor’s Note: Fr. Richard D. Breton Jr. is a priest of the Diocese of Norwich, Conn. He is currently the parochial vicar of St. Andrew Parish in Colchester and St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Lebanon. He received his BA in religious studies and his MA in dogmatic theology from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Cromwell, Conn.)
As we continue our journey during Advent, we are invited to journey with Our Blessed Mother, Mary. It was a little over two thousand years ago when a young girl Mary was going about her daily routine. Suddenly, there appeared a man in white, the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel had a very special message for Mary. This divine message would change her life forever.The Archangel Gabriel identified Mary’s uniqueness with the words of his greeting, “Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you” (Luke 1:28). This recognized Mary’s participation in God’s plan of redemption. Mary was troubled by this greeting, but was reassured by the angel’s words,
“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. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end” (Luke 1:30-33).
The Lord, through the Archangel Gabriel, assured Mary that the Lord was with her. Sometimes we find ourselves like Mary. The Lord speaks to us in our lives, but we are afraid to listen. Why? Precisely because to listen to the Lord means change. To listen to the Lord call us to conversion. As human beings, change is hard. We become so comfortable in the cocoons we have built around us, we don’t want to attempt a change.
Let’s imagine we are a daily customer of a particular coffee shop. Each day we return to the coffee shop and order the same thing. As we approach the counter, we order a large coffee with skim milk and no sugar. One day, however, the barista offers to make to a scrumptious new coffee with caramel, whipped cream, and chocolate shavings as a garnish.
Oh, my! It is so tempting, but we are not sure. What to do! Do I accept the new coffee and experience something different, or do I continue in my own ordinary way of life?
Mary had a similar, yet more life-changing decision to make. Mary didn’t run away or start crying uncontrollably; she listened intently and pondered the message within her heart. Then she responded: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Mary’s fiat is our fiat! Mary’s yes is our yes!
God had chosen Mary from the moment of creation for this very special responsibility. Like Mary each one of us has been chosen by God for a very special purpose as well.
Bells Are Tolling
The Season of Advent allows us to journey with Mary as she travels to Bethlehem. Each day at six o’clock in the morning, at noon, and at six o’clock in the evening, one might hear the tolling of bells in the distance. These bells are calling us to prayer. We are called to reflect three times during the day on our own journey to Bethlehem. The Church invites us to pray the angelus, a prayer that focuses us on the role of the Blessed Mother in the plan of salvation.
The entire prayer is prayed each time, but for the purpose of this column I will dissect it so we can better understand its significance. As night transforms into the dawn of a new day, we hear the bells summon us to pray the first angelus of the day. “The Angel of the Lord, declared unto Mary…and she conceived of the Holy Spirit.” Every morning is an opportunity to reflect on the Lord’s message to us. As the Lord called Mary to participate in the salvific action of our redemption, so too, we are reminded of our invitation to participate as well.
At noontime, we hear the second call to prayer and the angelus continues: “Behold the handmaid of the Lord….Be it done unto me according to your Word.”
Having reached midday, we reflect on whether we imitated Mary’s fiat or not. Have we pondered the Lord’s workings in our lives? Have we said yes to His promptings? Mary teaches us a lot! Her divine responsibility is revealed, and she doesn’t even flinch. She immediately submits to the Lord by calling herself His handmaid. Are we the handmaid of the Lord? Are we the Lord’s servant? So often we treat the Lord as our servant. We do this by expecting Him to conform to our will and our desires. We lower the Lord to an earthly understanding, but we forget that He is God. Advent journeying invites us to conform ourselves to Christ. We do this most perfectly by serving, instead of, being served.
Our day concludes, once again, with the tolling of the angelus bells. At the end of the day, we hear words of: “And the Word was made flesh . . . And dwelt among us.” With these words we are reminded of the coming festivities. The mystery of the Incarnation, as prayed in the angelus, refocus us at the end of our day. At dawn, like Mary, we accept the Lord’s invitation. This invitation calls us to participate in the plan of salvation wherever the Lord asks. At noon, after hearing the invitation, we are invited to accept it like Mary did. She accepted it with a singular act of the will by placing her total trust in the Lord.
During our day, have we accepted the invitation the Lord placed in our lives? Have we allowed ourselves to become the “handmaid of the Lord” by making a singular act of the will by trusting in Jesus?
As we reflect upon the Angelus Prayer this Advent, may we be open to Mary’s example. The last stanza of the prayer calls upon our Blessed Mother to intercede for us: “Pray for us, O holy Mother of God….That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.” Living the life of a Catholic is often met with difficulties, but, through the intercession of the Blessed Mother, we are united with Christ her Son who calls us to Himself. Advent is the perfect time to renew our commitment to Christ.
Are We Ready?
As we journey with the Blessed Mother, we are reintroduced to Jesus her Son. Mary carried the author of life within her womb. Everywhere she went during this time, souls were touched by the Divine Presence within her. The Visitation is the moment when humanity get its first glimpse of the Christ Child.
At the sound of Mary’s greeting, the infant within Elizabeth leapt for joy. Advent prepares our hearts to “leap for joy” because the Messiah is close at hand. The moment of the Incarnation is approaching. We have received the invitation to meet Christ again. Are we ready to say yes? Are we the handmaid, the servant of Christ?
The Angelus Prayer is concluded with these words: “Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ Thy Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.”
May this be our Advent prayer, and may the grace poured forth into our hearts at Baptism, sustain us, as together we journey to Bethlehem. Happy Advent!