4th Sunday of Advent, C December 19, 2021
Fr. Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
“Blessed are you who believed.” This is the way. I fear that too many people may have heard least week’s homily and concluded that the solution to anxiety is just gratitude. Gratitude does help to overcome anxiety, but the kind of gratitude that actually works depends on what is really the answer: faith. If you recall, the point I made was that, in the face of anxiety, we are called to trust so deeply in God’s providence that we can turn around and thank him, having faith that He guides even our problems to benefit us in the long run.
And so it is fitting that, this week, we have this profound moment from the life of Mary: her visitation to Elizabeth. This models for us that journey from anxiety – from being troubled – to joyful faith. That in turn prepares us for receiving fully the gift God gives us next week.
We should remember the story. First, an angel appears to Zechariah to announce he will have a son named John. He is confused and asks questions, to which the angel responds by striking him deaf and mute for lacking faith. Then, an angel appears to Mary and greets her in a strange way: “Hail, favored one, the Lord is with you.” We are told that Mary is “greatly troubled” by this. Like Zechariah, she also asks a question, but instead of striking her deaf, the angel answers her question and she ends up saying, “May it be done to me according to your word.”
What’s the difference? Doubt. Zechariah’s question is “how can I know this?” Kind of like saying “I don’t believe you, prove it.” Mary, however, says “how can this be?” sort of like saying “I believe you but don’t understand how.” Mary’s faith is also proven by what we heard today. The reason Mary knows about Elizabeth’s pregnancy is that the angel told her. The fact that she “traveled… in haste” shows that she believed the angel. So, when Elizabeth sees Mary just show up, the Holy Spirit causes her to say, “blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled.” That blessedness includes the peace that drives out anxiety.
I find it interesting that so many people look forward to Christmas all year round. Every year after Christmas, I see people jokingly post online about the countdown to next Christmas. July 25 is a major date for some because it means we’re halfway back to Christmas. There’s a whole website whose only purpose is tell you if it is Christmas: isitChristmas.com. The guy who made that site struggled greatly with depression, ultimately losing his life to that battle, so I think it’s significant that something about Christmas motivated him to make it. He, like many people, intuited that something about Christmas offers an antidote to the anxiety, despair, and apparent meaninglessness that they feel in life throughout the rest of the year.
And the way Mary prepared for that first Christmas is the key to what that antidote is: the conviction that faith is rewarded, that believing in some kind of ultimate goodness is not only a nice thought, but is true. The certainty that, by believing in that ultimate goodness, we actually allow that ultimate goodness to come into our world and dwell among us. Blessed indeed is she who believed, because she was rewarded by literally giving birth to ultimate goodness, meaning, and joy: Jesus Christ her son, God and Man.
That’s the key to overcoming anxiety: believe what God has spoken to you. “But, Father, the angel Gabriel hasn’t appeared to me! God’s never spoken anything to me!” Not true! All of Scripture is spoken to you and to me. The teaching of the Church is spoken to you and me! We have only to believe it!
And don’t worry if that “troubles” you, even “greatly troubles” you. Mary herself was troubled by the message of God. She asked questions, she pondered. The Catholic Church is often accused of not letting people ask questions, but that is not true! There is a difference between asking a question in order to understand and asking a question in order to challenge. Atheists who ask silly questions to mock us are not really asking questions, they are just expressing anger and pride disguised as questions. Zechariah’s “prove it” was a step above that, but still warranted a punishment. Mary, however, started from a place of trust that then sought to understand.
This is the expected attitude of Catholics towards the teaching of the Church. When faced with hard-to-accept teachings the first response shouldn’t be “I don’t like it, I don’t believe it, prove it.” It should be “I’ll take your word for it, but I don’t understand. Help me understand.” Likewise, when faced with difficulty and suffering, we can throw it in the face of God and say things like “you did this to me, I don’t believe you’re good. Prove it to me.” That may satisfy our anger, but it will leave us hollow. The call of faith to say “it is as it is, I trust your goodness, help me to see and understand your goodness even in this.”
And there’s something more concrete than that. Mary didn’t just ponder and ask, she acted and she acted with love. She’s just been told she will give birth to God’s son, but nearly the first thing she thinks is “I gotta go help my pregnant cousin.” When faced with the Church’s teaching or a difficult situation, part of faith is not just to accept and look for understanding. It is to recognize in it the opportunity to obey and to act with love. A doctrine asks you to do something you don’t understand, do it and keep your eyes open for the benefits. A tragedy strikes and shakes your faith, then wrestle with it, but also, go help!
Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit because of Mary’s visit and both she and John the Baptist encounter Christ through Mary’s obedience and love rooted in faith. Likewise, faithful Catholics are challenged to make faith real by bringing Christ to others for Christmas. We hear God’s word, we try to believe, but do we act on it? How do you plan to bring Christ to others for Christmas? Or bring others to him, perhaps? A large percentage of non-Church-going Americans said they would attend a service if invited.
Why is Christmas the happiest time of year? Why should this time of year convince us not to worry and free us from anxiety not just now but always? The all-powerful, all-knowing, all-loving God has promised to take care of us and to prove it, he became one of us. Blessed are you who believe what he spoke, who act on what you believe, and who bring that news to others. The Lord knows, the world needs it.