ADVENTures 7We cannot go through Advent without Mary. Of all humanity, she alone knows first-hand - and indeed truly physically felt - what it means to wait for the Jesus. She waited for Him with the awareness that she was carrying Him in her womb.
We cannot celebrate Christmas without celebrating with Mary, for it was her Child's birth which we celebrate. But, in a real sense, we also celebrate her motherhood.
A woman becomes a wife when she marries her husband. But she may not be a mother at all. A woman becomes a mother only when she gives birth. A woman is born into motherhood even as a child is born of her. Thus, the birthday of a child is also the birthday of its mother. A birthday is always a double feast: the coming of a child into the world and the coming of a woman into motherhood.
It is not when a woman conceives that she becomes a mother. For there are those who conceive and yet do not deliver. It is the delivering, the giving birth, that makes a woman a mother.
Let us be guided by Mary as we make our Advent journey. We may also say, without danger of error, that we accompany Mary through her Advent. Beside Mary is the rightful place for us to be most especially during Advent. Let us spend our Advent the way Mary spent hers. How?
1. BY BELIEVING THE WORD OF THE LORD. Did not Elizabeth said of Mary: "Blest is she who believed that the words of The Lord to her would be fulfilled"? (Cf. Lk 1:45)
2. BY SERVING. What did she do right after the Annunciation? "She WENT IN HASTE to the hill country of Judea" (Lk 1:39)! She went there to be with her cousin, Elizabeth who, not only in her old age but also, miraculously, in her barrenness, was also with child. Mary went to be present with, to, and for Elizabeth - in a word, to serve Elizabeth. She stayed with her until Elizabeth gave birth.
3. BY KEEPING ALL THINGS IN HER HEART. We can imagine that Mary's prayer used lesser words but more emotions, for treasuring experiences, encounters, and alike naturally evokes feelings. Mary prayed with her emotions. She prayed not only from the heart but with a heart - hers! She did not waste any God-created moment in her life because she treasured them in her heart (Cf. Lk 2:19 for example among many).
Let us journey with Mary. Let her Advent be our Advent too: BELIEVE, SERVE, and PONDER.
