My
reflection today started with a couple of significant contrasts in Scripture that
struck me as I read about Gabriel’s announcement to Mary.
The first
contrast is between today’s gospel (Luke 1:26-38), Gabriel’s visit to
Zechariah the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25), and several other
stories of conceptions. In those
readings we are told of a child conceived as God’s answer to a woman’s request:
Manoah’s wife [the mother of Samson] (Judges 13), Sarah [the mother of
Isaac] (Genesis 21), Hannah [the mother of Samuel] (1Samuel 1:9-20), and Elizabeth (Zechariah’s wife). In
today’s gospel reading the conception of Jesus is a woman’s answer to God’s
request. This is the first contrast,
indeed quite a contrast.
A second
contrast is Mary’s reaction to Gabriel’s announcement compared to that of
Zechariah’s, when told of Elizabeth’s coming pregnancy: how do I know? Give me a sign. I suspect that Zechariah was sorry he asked
for a sign that cost him his speech until after the child was born. Mary doesn’t ask for a sign. She does ask a
question, yet it’s not a question of doubt, but rather a question asking for
guidance: how do I go about what you’re asking of me? A second contrast.
God is
offering us signs in the events and circumstances of our daily living. But we need to recognize the signs –signs of
the times– that are already there and for this we need a faith vision. Events and circumstances are only data, and
they are the same for both believers and unbelievers. Faith vision helps us to find in them a faith
meaning, which in turn leads us to a faith response to the same data.
I am
reminded of my own experience that seemed, at first glance, to be devastating
for me. I was struggling to support my
family by working full-time at Thrifty Drug Stores in the early 90’s as a store
manager. The company was going through
what turned out to be its demise by the end of the decade, and I was worried I
would lose my job. I had been promoted
to be a “floating manager” of sorts, filling in for sick days and vacations for
other managers. It required me to drive
a minimum of 4 hours each day in addition to a full 9-hour shift, and often on
Sundays as well, leaving me little time with my family, or to attend Mass every
Sunday or visit my mother as often as possible.
So I was getting frustrated and worried about the future.
I prayed
that God would send me some sort of assurance (a “sign”) that I was still in
His good graces. I was very specific in
my prayer. I prayed that I would be
transferred closer to home, with time to worship on Sundays (at least), and
that it could allow me more time to visit with my mother, who was by then
living by herself in a small apartment in Lodi.
The day came that I was notified my position was being eliminated and my
employment terminated. As I said, I was
devastated. What was I going to do
now? This wasn’t what I asked God for!
I made a
commitment to myself and my wife that I would find another job somewhere as
quickly as possible with the intention of possibly going back to school as well,
and study to be a pharmacist. Again, God
had other plans for me.
A few days
after leaving Thrifty, I saw an ad in the paper that U-Haul was hiring Manager
Trainees. The pay wasn’t great—in fact,
I would be seeing an almost 50% cut in pay from what I was making at Thrifty,
but the benefits were outstanding, and I needed those desperately since we had
two children at home to take care of. I
went through a pretty rigorous interview process with about 40 other candidates
for the position at one of three locations.
I was chosen as one of the three new hires! There were two positions available in
Stockton, where I live, and one in Lodi (8 miles from Stockton), so I would be
close to home. I would have to work 5
full days and one half-day, but I would get Sundays off. And the position assigned to me was the store
in Lodi, which is located across the street from where my mother was living!
I realized
rather quickly that all three of my prayer requests were met! The events were not
how I had envisioned they would be, but that career move provided me
with: the opportunity to visit mom at least weekly and sometimes even more; to
spend more time at home with my wife and children; a place of employment for
the next 25 years until retirement in pretty good financial and physical shape;
and most importantly, to spend more time in worship of my God, who is so good
to me.
It's all
about reading the signs through the eyes of faith.
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