Dear Brothers and Sisters,
This Word is fulfilled today in this Eucharist. The angel Gabriel says to each one of us what he said to the Virgin Mary. Rejoice, the Lord is with you. This phrase is beautiful: The Lord is with you; he is in you; he is there inside of you; the Lord is with you already. How wonderful it is that the Eucharist has this power and can also announce that the Lord is in you. He is conceived in you and is named Jesus, Emmanuel, God is with us, God is with me. So, if you welcome this Good News, you are pregnant. It is a Good News that is made real in this Eucharist. We are called to be like the Virgin Mary, even if we are not full of grace, nor are we immaculately conceived.
The Lord brings us Good News whether we receive it or not, for nothing is impossible for God. Elizabeth, who was barren, is already six months pregnant. Before she was sterile, but nothing is impossible with God. Not one of us is lost. The Lord always comes to rescue you from the death you are in. Advent is a good time to clearly see our weaknesses. Let’s not fall into a moralistic way of thinking that I cannot change; I am always the same and always will be this way. The Word of God is not going to change me. But we hear in the gospels something different that even though I am not worthy, only say the Word and my soul will be healed. Like what happened to Mary when she heard the Word from Gabriel and she changed.
The angel said to her: you will conceive a son. I love this gospel because it dismantles the moralisms we easily fall into. We often say that I must make more of an effort, or I choose Jesus Christ, but I need to do more, but this is baloney. The one who saves us is Jesus Christ. Every Sunday and every day the Lord gives himself to you on this altar. He gives his life for you in this Eucharist; he dies and rises again for each one of us. We live this mystery with him. We enter death with him and are resurrected with him. This is why a Christian is a new man, a resurrected man.
We are what we eat, many people say. You are Christ because you eat him. We have a special bond with him. He is our special food, our vitamins; he is the best food we can have. A tendency that some may have been to listen carefully during Mass and the preaching to learn new things, but the Church tells you the same thing every week: He gave his life for you. We always say this and if you believe it that word is enough to save you, to heal you, to take you out of a slavery to some kind of sin, to take you out of selfishness or impurity or gossip or thinking you are better than the others.
The nuns and even the priests used to tell us you to choose God, that you should opt for Christ, or I chose the Lord and gave myself over to him. But in reality, it was the Lord who chose you. Didn’t you notice that the Lord comes close when you suffer. He has not chosen us for our merits or because you are very handsome, or you know a lot or because you have a good heart or are a saint. Just the opposite, he sees what is inside of you and still chooses you. Look what he did walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He chose three of the worst sinners: Peter, James and John. These crazy people who were the worst and he gets into the boat of Peter and makes him the leader. The most unsuccessful guy, the most sinful, the one who will deny him. But the Lord has chosen them; he picks the worst ones.
The Virgin has a beautiful moment when she asks how can it be that I will be the mother of the Messiah if I don’t know any man? To have a child you have to do something but, in this case, Mary doesn’t do anything. She only needs to have faith and trust in the Lord. Mary, there is nothing for you to do. It will be the Holy Spirit who will come upon you, and you will conceive. If you all listen to this announcement of the angel and believe in it, an angel can come to you. If you are busy doing other things, he will not come to you, don’t worry, do your projects and he will leave you alone. But if you believe that the Holy Spirit can come to you and you have the desire for Christ, for happiness in your life, Christ will come to you. But if you don’t realize who you are, you cannot receive Jesus Christ. If you don’t accept and surrender yourself, he cannot make of you a new man or a new woman.
If you already see that you cannot love or forgive or accept people the way they are. If you are always critical of your boss and think that you are smarter, be humble and the Lord will help you. He will be born in you, and you will bear a son, Jesus Christ. Mary is so humble the angel doesn’t ask her but gives her a command: you will bear a son and you will name him Jesus. Mary only says, let it be done to me according to your will, not mine! She is the handmaid of the Lord, the slave. She doesn’t even choose the name. She is already full of grace and has the Holy Spirit in her and therefore she obeys.
I hope that you and I can obey like Mary, to be humble like Mary. Yes, Lord, I will accept your will in all things. Let it be done to me as you wish, not as I wish. Lord, but help me to do your will, to marry or go to the seminary or the convent. The angel leaves because his work is finished. When you welcome Jesus Christ the angel goes away because he sees you already have Christ. You will conceive and bear a son; the Lord will fulfill his promise because the Lord is faithful. And always delivers what he promises.