In God We Hope 把希望放在天主

Fourth Advent Sunday, Year C
Theme: In God We Hope 把希望放在天主

As a Chinese aphorism goes, 「人無遠慮，必有近憂 A person without long-term worries must have short-term ones」. Worries are parts and parcels of our daily lives and they prevent us from enjoying life fully. When we fail to see any way out, worries turn into despair which leads easily to suicides when the people concerned feel lonesome. Human psyche is hardwired to lead a collective life. “The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him” (Genesis 2:18).
Loneliness can kill! In pre-industrial societies where people lived in extended families, the emotional support for individuals was stronger. People were better able to undergo psychological stresses and thus there were fewer suicides. Modern people live in nuclear families and even hostels. Emotional support wears thin and they seek support elsewhere. The handiest source comes from social media which bloom inevitably. Avalanches of information keep bombarding modern people. Suddenly, many more things take toll on their physical, psychological and social health. People have more things to worry about, for example their health, career, self-image, finance, local and global politics, the environment etc. Such continuous stimuli strain their mental stamina, exhaust them and make them vulnerable to despair. Modern people need a greater hope to sustain a bearable life in a commercial society.

Christmas is just three days away. Prosperity in the society has diluted its spiritual significance with consumerism. Instead of celebrating the joy the Incarnation Mystery brings to humanity, people find happiness in spending money. Instead of getting connected or re-establishing connections with our relatives and friends during the Christmas season, people go to parties to release their lust and desires. Instead of declaring traditional truces in war zones all over the world during Christmas, countries refuse to give their enemies any breathing space and a gleam of hope to humanity. Despite all the convenience and comfort attained by advancements in sciences and technologies, modern people are literally living in hell instead. Can we make Christmas relevant again nowadays?

The opening prayer of the mass today is enlightening and worth deeper meditation. It reads, “Pour forth, we beseech you, O LORD, your grace into our hearts, that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his resurrection …”. What has the Passion and Cross of Jesus Christ to do with the Joy of Incarnation? Why does joy and pain go hand in hand? In fact, this prayer puts our daily life in sharp focus! Joy and pain are in fact two sides of the same coin. I was wrong when, in the first paragraph, I said, “Worries … prevent us from enjoying life fully”. On the contrary, without worries, life is incomplete and thus not full! We have lost this wisdom since the Age of Enlightenment in which Sir Francis Bacon’s aphorism, namely “Knowledge is Power”, started taking root in human mind. We have become “control freaks” and we want joy without pain! However, can we? With the mind-set of “control-freaks”, we disagree with God’s salvation plan. Since God is almighty. He can simply wipe out Satan and save all humanity with a snap of His fingers. Why did the Son of God take the trouble of becoming flesh and dwelling among us (John 1:14) instead? Is there no better and more effective way to save humanity than Passion and Crucifixion?

In the first reading today, Micah foretells the birth place of the Messiah, “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah least among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel; whose origin is from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:1). This is one of the five prophecies Matthew quoted in his Nativity narratives to prove that Jesus Christ is the long anticipated Messiah (Matthew 2:6). With these words, “whose origin is from of old, from ancient times”, Micah has already hinted that the Messiah is God Himself. God makes no secret His intention to save humanity in person. However, without the theology of the “Blessed Trinity” as well as the dual natures of Jesus Christ, it is impossible for people in general and Jews in particular to understand how a Creator God would suffer death and how the death of one single person suffices the salvation for all humanity! Whatever the theology, the most crucial thing for humanity is God’s active intervention in human destiny. Yahweh is not a God who created us and leaves us to fend for ourselves. Instead, He cares and helps us realize our full potentials because we were created in His image (Genesis 1:26) and that He finds no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies (Ezekiel 18:32). He loves and cherishes every image He created no matter how rotten it has become.

The gospel reading today continues from the Annunciation of the birth of the Saviour by Archangel Gabriel. It is curious that we do not find a word spoken by the BVM in today’s excerpt. Elizabeth does all the talking and the text skips the Magnificat! Scholars have spilt a lot of ink on Mary’s setting out and travelling “in haste” to visit Elizabeth. As for me, a common sense understanding would suffice to explain everything and it is not necessary to resort to theology. The haste only shows the youthfulness of the BVM who was most likely to be 14 year-old maiden only. She was too young to understand Gabriel’s message and wanted to ascertain whether Elizabeth had been pregnant for six months (Luke 1:36). If Elizabeth was, the BVM had to take the words of the Archangel seriously. Which means, she would conceive and bear a son (1:31) before marrying Joseph! After meeting Elizabeth, mixed feelings surged up in the heart of the BVM. On one hand, she sensed the danger of getting pregnant before marriage. She would be stoned to death (Deuteronomy 22:24) when her pregnancy was getting more and more conspicuous. On the other hand, the Archangel’s word was true and she would be the mother of a king to rule over Israel (Luke 1:32) and the Mother of the Son of God (1:35)! As a virgin, Mary did not have any experience of pregnancy. She was unable to tell whether she was pregnant or not at that moment. It was only through Elizabeth’s report, namely the leaping of John the Baptist in her womb, that the truthfulness of Gabriel’s word was confirmed (1:44). Mary’s bodily changes in the following months would further confirm the archangel’s message and would worsen her worries. Though the BVM was conceived without Original Sin, she was not exempted from worries.
There is still an enigma to crack in Elizabeth’s words. Elizabeth says, “And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my LORD should come to me?” (1:43). How was she able to confess the Lordship of Jesus? It involves some theology, which I am sure the BVM did not understand. Thus, there is no harm skipping this enigma for the time being.

The last sentence Elizabeth spoke is relevant to us nowadays. She says, “Blessed are you who believed that what was spoken to you by the LORD would be fulfilled” (1:45) Not only is Mary blessed for her faith in God, but we are also blessed. This faith in the LORD gives us the hope modern people need to confront the onslaughts of despair nowadays. With this faith, we may be able to hope for the impossible and wait patiently for its fulfillment, such as the repentance of evil people and that there shall be peace on earth.

Beloved brethren! Let us put our faith in Gabriel’s word during the Annunciation too, “Nothing will be impossible for God” (1:37). We are carriers of this Christian hope. Let us enkindle hope in the people we meet and the people we serve. Amen.
God bless!

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Picture Credit: creator.nightcafe.studio