Proclaiming the greatness of the Lord

 

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;

my spirit rejoices in God my savior,

for he has looked with favor upon his lowly servant.  (Luke 1:46-56)

 

This is so true. Hasn't God looked down from heaven and bestowed on us many, many favors?

In this season of Advent, we’ve been awaiting the coming of Jesus in Bethlehem.  Among the images that come to mind for me as I ponder the absolute wonder of what we await is a picture of a mother - and father-to-be. I imagine them, carrying in their hearts the uncertainty and exceptionality of what had entered into their lives. 

My Advent reflections are a departure for me from what I typically envision when I think of Jesus. Usually, I imagine Him as a man.  I am sitting with Him, listening to Him, and seeing Him in His ministry.  I imagine myself as His companion.  The Gospel of Luke gospel reminds me that Jesus’ mother Mary was His first companion.  As Mary proclaims God's greatness to Elizabeth, Jesus is there.  Though still carrying Him in her womb, Mary has already been transformed by Jesus' presence within her.  Invoking God's promise, her trust is complete.

Such unwavering trust in God can be difficult, especially during challenging times.  In this, Mary is my model.  But to be a companion of Jesus is to have such trust in both good times and in bad.  Mary would need such trust, especially as Jesus fulfilled His mission here on earth in His final hours.  I give thanks for her example and for the many ways Jesus left us whereby we’re invited to build and demonstrate this trust in Him.  In baptism, we place our trust in Him.  In confession, we place our trust in Him.  In the Eucharist, we place our trust in Him and, like Mary, can also be transformed by Jesus' presence within us.

To prepare for Alicia’s baptism when she was a baby, the deacon who was going to perform the ceremony asked us to write down the reasons we wanted her baptized in the Catholic faith.   We wrote that God blessed us with the gift of a child that we call our own, but she really belongs to the One who created her.  As her parents, Marilyn and I were given the responsibility to see that she learned to know and love the Father of us all.  The only way I knew was to teach her by the example of my own faith, hope and love of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 

Our children don’t belong to us.  We help God in the creating of their lives, but they’re a gift from Him and He only loans them to us for a short while.  At some point in their lives, we give them back to God.  We don’t have to leave them at the church like Hannah left Samuel at the temple (1 Samuel 1:24-28), but I think it’s so important to remember that He created them for a purpose, and we can dedicate ourselves to helping them find it.  We need to want God’s plan for their lives more than we want our own for them and we can encourage them to use their gifts and talents to help build the kingdom.

Raising kids can be overwhelming at times and I don’t see how anyone does it without God’s help!  If you let yourself consider all that’s wrong with the world, and all of the scary things that could happen to them, you can start to feel pretty helpless to protect them.   And of course the question of whether or not they’ll choose Christ for themselves looms large sometimes.  One day I prayed for my children.  I prayed, "I give them back to you Lord.  Please do whatever You need to in each of their lives to draw them to Yourself."  It was a very freeing prayer for me – not only because we aren’t supposed to worry and fret (although I still do), but also because they’re ultimately His kids and entrusting them to Him is the best place they can be.  He loves them more than we ever could.  Thank you, Lord, for the gift of children.  Help us to steer them toward You and to release them to your perfect plan for their lives.

As we await Jesus' coming at Christmas, let’s pray that such trust enters into our hearts as it did for Mary.  Let’s also pray, that we demonstrate and share the joy that this trust brings to those we meet, just as Mary shared with Elizabeth.  Let’s share this joy with one another.