This week we Lectio the Liturgy with the Collect for the Fourth Sunday of Advent. There are phrases in this prayer that take us through the life of Mary and show us how to follow in her footsteps.
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. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Let’s start with our plea for God to pour grace into our hearts. Mary, too, had a heartfelt of grace. In Luke 1:28, the angel Gabriel says, “Hail, favored one.”
Depending on which version of scripture you use, in this verse we find the phrase “favored one” or “full of grace.” Technically, both are correct. The word used in Greek is charitoō and is defined as to grace, indue with special honor: be highly favored. This isn’t just a gift to Mary, it becomes her identity and it is ours as well.
Through Baptism, grace is introduced into our souls. Grace is not earned, it is a gift freely given. Grace is God’s life in our souls.
The next part of Mary’s life includes angelic revelations. The Archangel Gabriel’s words are pretty powerful, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High.” (She didn’t say “no” - that’s a sign of grace!)
But it wasn’t just one angelic encounter that announced the coming of the Christ Child. The angel also spoke to Joseph and the shepherds. I don’t think we can even imagine Mary’s response to the arrival of the shepherds and what they had to say. “There we were watching the sheep, there was a light, and the angel said, “I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Luke 2:10)
You and I are “all the people.” The angels declare the same message to us as they proclaimed to the shepherds, “a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord.” (Luke 2:11)
Next in the prayer we look to the Passion and Cross of Jesus. This is undoubtedly the darkest part of Mary’s life and as I prayed into this part of the prayer, I had a sense of how Mary suffered through this time.
As Mary walked with Jesus during this time of her life, through the scourging and crucifixion, she had to have experienced great suffering and sadness. What did she do with her suffering? Tradition tells us that Jesus met Mary as He carried the Cross. Scripture tells us that He spoke to her from the cross. I don’t think we can imagine the pain she felt, but I couldn’t vision Mary just sitting down and thinking about how hard this was.
What did she do instead? She walked with Jesus. Perhaps on her mind were the words, “I won’t leave you Son, I will walk through this with you.” You can I are called to do the same.
Suffering is filled with purpose when we unite it with the Passion of Jesus. It is through this suffering that we are brought, just like Mary, to the glory of the Resurrection.
In the prayer we ask that God would pour grace into our hearts, but there is also a call to a personal encounter with Jesus.
The Incarnation was made known, not to everyone, but just to Mary. Just like Mary, Jesus wants to make Himself known to you in a personal life-giving encounter with Him. He wants to be born in you in a deeply personal and spiritual way. Jesus promises a life filled with joy and companionship. He’s also given us His mother as a role model. All we need to do is give Him our own personal “yes.”