Just a few days shy of Christmas, we look for someone who can really teach us to appreciate its meaning. Here the Word of God and the universal Church give us the figure of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Mother of God. Look at her and learn to value the gift of God. Look at her and learn to imitate her loving response. Look at her and learn how to get involved in the work of salvation. Look at Mary and through her, learn about the Child she brings to the world.

There is always a Marian piety in every Christmas because Mary stands for all of us, for we, too,­ are invited to receive Jesus the way she did. And to share Jesus the way she did.
Today, more than ever, we are challenged to look into ourselves and discover areas of our lives which need healing and restoration. We begin to do this when we forgive one another and do our share in creating a hearty atmosphere in our home, in our family, in the union of your married partnership, in the oneness between parents and children.

So many things can become signs of your availability and of God’s graciousness. This can take the form of picking up the phone and calling your parents, siblings, relatives you perhaps have not been speaking to. Do not simply text or email. Call. Or better yet, visit them. When you do, you allow yourself to truly be an instrument of joy and peace, like Mary was to the world when she bore Jesus in her womb – to be in her, as He is in us. Through Mary’s “yes”, God becomes man and He becomes human among us, in our homes, our hearts, our community and in our world.

And there is one way above all others by which Christ remains with us: in His Body and Blood. The Eucharist is truly Emmanuel, God-with-us. The same God who was nourished in Mary’s womb is who we receive in our bodies at Holy Communion, the same Jesus whom the wise men traveled such great distances over several months to worship and adore. Jesus established the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist so that He who is God-with-us could truly be with us in a communion of love.

The question is: We do take time to embrace this truth of our faith and make a rightful space in our lives for Jesus to truly dwell in us? Like Mary, may this be our commitment this season of Advent leading to Christmas, and all the rest of our lives.

Sono semipro grate,
Father Erick

(For the 4th Sunday of Advent, 2021)