JMJT! Praise be Jesus Christ! Now and Forever!
As we continue our early steps towards the crib in Bethlehem this first week of Advent, we begin to meditate on a sense of expectation. We know what is to come some 3 weeks from now. We might have particular hopes and expectations associated with Christmas, whether they be spiritual or temporal. But we need to be mindful of our expectations which can turn into conditions and a form of perverted hope. In saying that, I am not suggesting that we should have no expectations in any given situation, but we must always monitor our motives. Are they pure? Are we seeking something else that is unspoken and not fair to others or not in keeping with God's plans? Do our expectations cause us to judge others harshly or do our expectations enable us to love more? Do they stifle the subtle movements of the Holy Spirit? These are pivotal questions in this season permeated by the purity of the Infant Jesus in the Immaculate Womb of Our Immaculate Mother who is the Immaculate Conception. This is the season of pure love, and any expectations we have must be rooted in this.
Our Lady is the one to show us the path of pure expectations, as she gave her assent to the Angel Gabriel, not entirely sure of what this plan of bearing the Christ Child would entail. . All she knew was the she identified herself as 'the handmaid of the Lord' and that she accepted that His plans be realized and fulfilled in her as His lowly servant. She did not know the how's or why's of his mysterious plan. She only knew that His loving Divine Providence is perfect and can be trusted. She further knew that she could remain in a trustful silence and had no need of proving her expectations, plans, reasons, etc. to others. She was content to be ensconced in the embrace of His Divine Will. Adrienne von Speyr writes in Handmaid of the Lord that,
"In saying, 'Be it done to me', she gave her consent not only to the Child but to everything that the expectation will make out of her and everything that will happen after the birth of the Son. 'Be it done to me" means that she puts herself as woman at the disposal of the active, shaping Word of God in her. Thus she is brought to the contemplation of pregnancy and expectation after her personal action has spent itself in the assent - an assent which, again, had itself grown out as fruit from her continual contemplation..."
"From the moment of her assent, the Mother awaits an already fulfilled promise. The fullness is already in her, the Word of God is growing in her, and her expectation now forms itself according to this growth and grows with it. It is no longer her own expectation which will be fulfilled; it becomes a function of the fulfillment. Through the fulfillment of the promise in her, her expectation comes about: the expectation of the already present Son within her, the mystery of Advent, which the Mother will, like everything else, make over to the Church as a permanent state. This expectation is primarily a spiritual and only secondarily a physical expectation...' [p. 68-69]We see this purity of intention throughout the entirety of Our Lady's personal Advent during her 9 month pregnancy and beyond. St. Luke's Gospel recounts her going 'in haste' to visit her cousin Elizabeth who has also miraculously conceived a child, as she was thought the be barren and past child-bearing years. Mary seeks to serve her cousin, not to be served. As she approaches, Elizabeth's spirit is transfixed as both she and her son John recognize Mary as Theotokos with the Savior housed in her womb. In response from the depths of Our Lady's heart and soul she proclaims the words of the Magnificat. What beauty and unexpected sublimity in this colloquy of pure love and fulfilled expectation.
My soul magnifies the Lord And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;Because He has regarded the lowliness of His handmaid;For behold, henceforth all generations shall call me blessed;Because He who is mighty has done great things for me,and holy is His name;And His mercy is from generation to generation on those who fear Him.He has shown might with His arm,He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.He has put down the mighty from their thrones,and has exalted the lowly.He has filled the hungry with good things,and the rich He has sent away empty.He has given help to Israel, his servant, mindful of His mercy Even as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his posterity forever.
Our Lady's eyes were fixed solely on God, in doing His Will and serving others. By expecting that God's magnanimity would shine forth in all circumstances was she able to free herself from conditional hopes and expectations on others that lead to disappointment and disordered attachments to oneself and one's personal agenda. By remaining ever His handmaid and seeking to serve alongside her Son, she continues to show us how to anticipate the coming of Christ with no false pretense, ulterior motives, or conditional love. This is the purity of anticipation which Our Lord wishes to give us this season. Our Lady is ready to show us how, if we only ask in child-like purity of hope.
