Your special calling from God

Homily for 4^th Sunday of Advent Year C 2015

Micah 5:1-4; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-44

Introduction

A friend of mine, who works at one of the large area hospitals, recently received a letter from the CEO of the hospital.  He was congratulating and thanking her for her service of 25 years.  But my friend was not entirely excited by this letter.

It was a form letter that, besides her name, said nothing personal about her.  In fact, the CEO did not seem to know for what job he was thanking her.  He said something like "you are one of the most important people who make a difference to our patients, whether you work in the clinical or non-clinical area."  And so, rather than rejoice that her employer appreciated her contribution, my friend realized that she was just one more cog in the wheel of this large organization.

Thankfully, when God calls a person for a mission, he is very specific and knows each person already from their mothers' wombs (cf. Jer. 1:5, Gal. 1:15-16).

Scripture and Theology

In today's readings we see how God calls people for his missions.

·        God calls Bethlehem-Ephratah, the smallest of the clans of the tribe of Judah, to be the clan from which the Messiah will be born.

·        God calls Elizabeth, a woman who today would already be drawing social security, to be the mother of the forerunner, John the Baptist.

·        God calls Mary, to be the mother of the Messiah himself, Jesus the Christ.

For today's homily, let us reflect on the special calling of Mary.

Did you notice that Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin, inspired by the Holy Spirit, called Mary "blessed" two times in today's short gospel passage.

·        "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb."

·        "Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."

With these words, Elizabeth not only congratulates Mary about her special role, but she is also very specific, unlike my friend's boss.

The first reason for which Elizabeth congratulates and calls Mary "blessed," is because of what Mary is carrying in her womb, Jesus the Son of God.  She recognizes that God has blessed Mary among all women by tapping her to be the vehicle that brings his Son into the world.

This reminds me of a custom back home in Uganda of calling mothers not by their own names or even the names of their husbands, but by name of what comes from their womb, their children.  And so, in everyday conversation, a mother would be referred to by a phrase that roughly translates as “mother of so-and-so.”  My mother, for example is rarely called by her name "Josephine," but is referred to by everybody as “Mama Deo,” my name.

This custom works quite well for the most part, since it honours the motherhood of these women, especially if their children are well-behaved.  But spare a thought for the mother whose child turns out bad.  Surely no woman would like to be referred to as the "mother of so-and-so," the school bully or the thief or drug-dealer.  In other words, children can bring honour or dishonour to their parents, they can be a blessing or a curse to them.

Thankfully for Mary she is in the blessed situation of having a son who brought her honour and with whose name she is proud to be associated till today.  That is why Elizabeth calls Mary "blessed," because the son Mary carries in her womb is blessed and makes Mary “the mother of my Lord.”

A few weeks ago we celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, where we again acknowledged that Mary is Blessed among women, because God gave her a singular gift of being conceived without sin, so that she would be a worthy vehicle for her son.  In the gospel of that day, the Angel Gabriel also pointed out Mary's special status when he said: "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you," the first part of our prayer, the Hail Mary.  In today's gospel, Elizabeth provides the remaining words of that prayer, when she says: "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus."

But is this reason enough to honour Mary?  After all she did nothing to earn the blessing of being the mother of God; God simply chose her, without so much as an audition.  In fact, one might say that like the Ugandan mother, Mary seems to be riding the coattails of her son’s good name.  But that is not the case, as Elizabeth tells us the second time she calls Mary 'blessed."

She says: “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.”  Yes, it is true that God chose Mary in a special way, but it is equally true that Mary believed what the Angel Gabriel told her and said “Yes.”  In other words Mary earned her own good name, by actively cooperating with the blessing she received from God.  She told the angel Gabriel: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word.”  She took the slightly modified words of Spiderman very seriously: "with great privilege comes great responsibility." Mary did not take her privilege for granted, but used it to bring God's Son into the world, an event we celebrate at Christmas.

Christian Life

You and I have also been specially called and specially graced by God.  In God's grand plan for the world, there is a specific role for each of us.

On a broad level, we are each called to live out God's plan in a particular state of life, some as married people, others as single people, some as priests, others as religious.

And then within these four broad callings, God graces each of us for a specific task.  What God wants you and that handsome man sitting next to you, is different from what God wants that other couple in the next pew to do.  Perhaps he has given you children, but has not the next couple.  Perhaps he has placed different people in the path of your life, so that you might share the Good News with them, but has placed another whole set of people in your neighbour's path.

Of course we can only respond well to our calling, if we know what it is.  Unlike Mary whose calling was very clear because an angel told her, for us it is primarily through prayer that God tells us what we must do.  But God also sends angels to us, not angels with wings and a shining light, but the people around us, like our parents and teachers, our priests and fellow parishioners.  Many young men who come to the Seminary often say that they did so, because someone tapped them on the shoulder and said: "Have you considered a call to the priesthood?"

Conclusion

This Last Sunday of Advent is always dedicated to Mary, to remind us that without her there would be no Christmas.  God placed the responsibility of this great event of our salvation, in the hands of a poor teenage girl; but she rose to the occasion and played her part.  And so we call her "blessed."

You and I are also called to be "blessed", as long we don't simply ride the coattails of the name of Christian, but like Mary we embrace our specific calling and especially its smallest tasks.

Christmas time is an especially wonderful opportunity to live out our various callings.  So in this last week of Advent preparation for Christmas, we must ask ourselves: "Have I played my part, have I made my small contribution to God's grand plan of salvation, or am I just a cog in taking up space in God's machine?"